IT salary trends for 2009
The current economic climate is a global concern, and we are reminded of this every day, with news of redundancies and layoffs commonplace in news headlines. The IT industry has not escaped, with layoffs from large corporates such as IBM, Sun, Dell, Oracle, and Microsoft bearing ill tidings.
Yet in line with industry analyst predictions from late 2008, an early 2009 report by Computer Economics forecast that the IT industry may remain just ahead of the economic downturn. As with most economic predictions, the report relies on a few variables behaving properly, such as inflation.
American market
According to Computer Economics the forecast in an American market experiencing flat or negative inflation throughout 2009 is: 2% median salary growth for all IT employees; base pay levels for IT executives, directors, managers, and developers rising from 2% to 3%; and median base wages for other IT workers rising by 1.5% to 2.5%.
This information is based on the extrapolation of facts, such as large companies reducing spending on outsourcing and trying to hold on to their current skilled IT professionals. The downside to this approach is that it may be difficult for new IT specialists to break into the industry at the same income level of their established counterparts, or even at all.
According to a 2009 TechRepublic and Global Knowledge report which surveyed IT skills and salaries, the average base salary for individuals in the IT profession increased by around 10% for 2009. The number of individuals receiving raises and bonuses saw a decline however. 7 out of 10 individuals received a raise of around 6% to their current base salaries.
South African market
According to the 2008 ITWeb/CareerWeb Salary Survey, and in line with the American trend discussed in the TechRepublic/Global Knowledge report, average South African IT salary increases were between 5% and 10%.
The highest and lowest paying IT fields in South Africa are:
| Highest paid fields by average | Lowest paid fields by average |
| Enterprise Architecture and Service Oriented Architecture at R40 000 per month | Support / helpdesk at R11 833 per month |
| Enterprise Resource Planning at R35 580 per month | Web design at R12 125 per month |
| Storage / Storage Area Network / backup at R35 000 per month | Desktop management / services at R13 347 per month |
The News24 Salary Survey 2008 results indicate that 52.5% of companies require skills in information systems, electronics and telecoms. The survey reported on average information systems, electronics and telecoms salaries based on skill level, with the overall average salary being R19 400.
Unskilled and semi-skilled workers, in the IT industry, are receiving around R10 000 per month. There is a large gap between skilled and professional grade employees, with skilled workers earning R15 000 on average, and professionals earning R25 500. Senior management earned R28 800 on average, and top level management earned R34 000.
Skills demand trends
Through the ITWeb/CareerWeb survey, Susan Rousseau, client development manager at Insource.ICT, reports that the skills most in demand are C# and Java developers, application and systems architects, infrastructure engineers and project managers, all commanding salaries “higher than the norm.”
Certified professionals also earn higher salaries, with Cisco, Nortel, Novell, Sun and Microsoft certifications offering potential for better salaries. IT consultants are still in demand in numerous areas of expertise.
The Career Junction Index (CJI) has summarised the overall number of job advertisements across the site. IT positions are the second most advertised with 23% of the total advertised jobs. Finance is the lead with 25% of advertised jobs. Engineering positions are the next highest in demand, at 9%.
The CJI also measured skills supply (the number of applicants) versus demand (the number of jobs advertised) over a 6 month period, ending in August 2009. The IT industry currently has an 18.9% skills supply trend, with a 5.2% increase in the demand trend. There are 7 potential applicants per job advert.
Telecommunication skills are at 23.7% supply and an increased demand of 2.2%, with 27 potential applicants per job advert. Engineering sees a 5.2% supply of skills with a demand increase of 14% and 7 potential applicants per job advert.
The future
The economic downturn has led to a focus on IT skills retention by employers. This means that those who are currently employed are likely to retain their positions, even if they don’t receive much in the way of raises or bonuses. New entrants in the IT profession may have a tougher time finding a permanent position.
The 2009 surveys from TechRebuplic, ITWeb and News24 show the IT job market trends entering into 2009 when the downturn started to pinch. The Computer Economics Forecast shows that there is a definite slowdown within the IT and telecoms industry for 2009, but growth is still expected, although at a reduced rate. The final 2009 market pattern will only emerge once new surveys and reports are issued, usually around the end of the year.
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