Survey: Dice.com Sees Signs IT Wages Will Rise – Finally 
Overall IT salaries remained nearly flat for a second straight year, but those with SOA, data integration, ERP and ETL skills were most likely to have bigger paychecks, according to Dice.com’s annual high-tech salary survey. IDN looks at the numbers, skills and locales with the biggest payoffs for IT professionals.
Overall IT salaries remained nearly flat for a second straight year, but those with SOA, data integration, ERP and ETL skills were most likely to have bigger paychecks, according to Dice.com’s annual high-tech salary survey.
On average, the Dice Salary Survey found tech workers garnered salary increases of about 1% (0.7%) to $79,384 from $78,845 in 2009, after receiving a similar increase the previous year. Despite the tepid raises, more people are getting them. Dice found 49% received a salary increase in 2010, compared to just 36% in 2009.
But there are glimmers of hope, as the survey found more IT professionals received bonuses in 20010 – 29% versus 24% the year prior.
Even brighter for employees, the survey also predicted IT wage stagnation may soon be coming to an end, as the economy recovers and companies are again willing to invest in talents that will lead to competitive advantages in the marketplace.
“Employers that are reluctant to increase compensation or step up retention efforts will likely pay for their unsatisfactory ways.”
Tom Silver
Senior Vice President
Dice
“Companies can no longer get away with paltry salary increases for their technology staffs based on the demand we are seeing for talent,” said Tom Silver, senior vice president of North America at Dice, in a statement. “Employers that are reluctant to increase compensation or step up retention efforts will likely pay for their unsatisfactory ways.”
The Dice Salary Survey offers three strategies for IT professionals looking to earn more in 2011.
- Work for a larger company. IT professionals on average earned $88,075 working for companies with more than 5,000 employees, while the smallest companies (50 or fewer employees) paid on average $69,658 to their technology workers.
- Continue to add expertise and skills. Those with annual wages of $100,000 or more reported having specialized IT skills, including SAP (ABAP language); Informatica, ETL (Extract Transform and Load) and SOA. Demand for experience with Oracle products (notably database, application server), J2EE/Java and C/C++ and C# also increased, as job postings at Dice.com for these segments are up 50% from last year, the site reported. The demand for project managers is also up dramatically in 2011.
- Work in Silicon Valley After a slip in average salaries last year, paychecks for technology talent in Silicon Valley increased 3% to an average salary of $99,028. In addition, 35% of Valley respondents received a bonus in 2010, as compared to just 26% in 2009.
“The revival of employment demand for technology professionals started about this time last year in Silicon Valley. Very quickly, companies are facing higher compensation costs, retention troubles, and shortages in certain skill sets,” said Alice Hill, Managing Director of Dice.com, in the statement. “This experience provides a roadmap for employers outside of Silicon Valley, because demand is strengthening across the country for tech talent.”
Outside Silicon Valley, the Dice Salary Survey found these average IT salaries in other locales:
Atlanta ($82,944)
Chicago ($79,933).
Los Angeles ($84,551)
New York ($87,298)
Philadelphia ($81,986)
Washington D.C./Baltimore corridor ($89,149)
The Dice Salary Survey was administered online with 19,798 employed technology professionals from the Dice community responding between August 31, 2010 and November 15, 2010.
