News

IT Compensation Leveling Off?

Several recently released surveys indicate that salaries may have bottomed out or be headed slightly upward for all IT job roles, including developers.

• By Michael Domingo
• 06/19/2003

• The 2003 InfoWorld Compensation Survey (see "IT feels the squeeze," by Heather Havenstein, InfoWorld, June 13, 2003, or click here) encompassing 2,884 respondents showed that 34 percent had reported no change in salary from 2002, and those who did receive increases only received 1 to 5 percent. Of note were average salaries for the following: $78,752 for IT managers, $61,900 for network administrators, and $46,236 for help desk.
• A quarterly survey of 300 company conducted by Janco Associates, a Park City, Utah-based IT management and consulting firm, showed "mean salaries for all IT positions in large companies increased to $80,030 in the second quarter of 2003, up from $78,687 in the last quarter of 2002." (To see the report, click here.)

• A random, Web-based survey by Visual Studio Magazine ("2003 Salary Survey: How Do Your Earnings Stack Up?", by Susannah Pfalzer, June 2003) shows a base salary of $76,000, indicating a 12 percent rise from its 2002 report. But the report cautions that job instability continues to be a concern among respondents, with 44 percent reporting layoffs at their companies.
• Robert Half and Associates released a 2003 IT salary projection in November 2002 that predicts a 2.6 increase in network architect average salaries for 2003. The company also projects that the strongest salary increases will go to security-related positions (4.9 percent).

MCP Magazine's own survey of compensation for Microsoft Certified Professionals will be published in the August 2003 (online July 23). The 2002 survey can be found here.