As a nation, we've more or less weathered the recession, and in many industries things are looking up once again. Some of the general trends in the IT industry reflect more jobs--and fewer skilled professionals to fill them--as well as modest gains in salaries and bonuses.
The Computerworld IT Salary Survey 2014 looks at the latest trends in tech salaries, and reveals what companies are willing to pay, what IT professionals are willing to accept, and what positions are hot½and not so hot.
A slow but steady rise in compensation
According to the survey, IT salaries are increasing at a modest average rate of 2.1 percent in 2014. While this is down slightly from 2013's average increase of 2.3 percent, it equals the increase of 2.1 percent over 2012. Bonuses are up 0.7 percent in 2014, which again is less than 2013's increase of 0.9 percent--but far exceeds the decrease of 1.1 percent in bonuses for 2012.
The better news in this arena for IT professionals is that more of them are seeing pay increases. In 2014, 60 percent of surveyed IT workers reported receiving a raise, while only 8 percent received pay cuts. In both cases, these numbers beat the 2013 responses with 57 percent reporting raises and 9 percent reporting pay cuts. And it's a significant improvement over 2012, when only 47 percent of IT pros were given raises.
Job security is improving
More IT professionals feel secure in their positions. A total of 61 percent of survey respondents reported a sense of job security, up from 59 percent in 2013 and 57 percent in 2012. More than half are also satisfied with their current positions, with 48 percent reporting they're "satisfied" and 15 percent being "very satisfied."
In addition, tech workers are generally more optimistic about career opportunities in IT, with 42 percent believing that IT career paths and salary advancement potential are as promising as they were five years ago In 2013, only 38 percent felt optimistic about the future IT, and in 2012 just 29 percent responded with optimism. And as an overall career outlook, 84 percent of IT professionals are "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their decision to pursue an IT career.
Hot jobs in IT
The Computerworld survey looks at both sides of the IT industry. In addition to surveying IT professionals, hiring managers and recruiters were surveyed to find out which IT skills have the highest demand for 2014. The top 10 skills hiring managers reported seeking this year are:
Other skills which hiring managers are looking to increase in the next 12 months include mobile application development (16%), data mining / data warehousing (16%), enterprise application integration (15%), virtualization (15%), Windows administration (13%), and enterprise resource planning (13%).
Salaries for these positions are typically commensurate with experience, but can also be higher depending on the needs of the organization versus the available talent pool. The skills shortage in IT is very real, as 27 percent of companies reported taking up to three months to fill open positions, 37 percent reported needing three to six months, and 15 percent said it took longer than six months.
In any case, the future is looking brighter for IT professionals in terms of salary, job security, and overall job satisfaction.
Here are just a few of the “hot jobs” Clearpoint is working on this week. Please apply for anything that is a fit for your skills and experience, and as always please feel free to share with your networks.
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