Will Starting Salaries Increase or Decrease for IT Professionals?
Published 2010-10-18
Menlo Park, Calif. — Oct. 18Information technology professionals in the United States can expect starting salaries to increase an average of 3.4 percent in 2011, according to the just-released “Robert Half Technology Salary Guide 2011.”
Larger increases in base compensation are expected in high-demand segments, such as applications and Web development, data security and enterprise resource planning (ERP).
The annual salary survey is based on an in-depth analysis of the thousands of job placements managed by the U.S. offices of Robert Half Technology, a provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis.
Since compensation varies by geographic region, the salary guide provides regional variance data to help hiring managers adjust starting salaries for their specific markets.
“A focus on improving efficiency, managing assets and securing data has increased the demand and base compensation for IT professionals with ERP and security credentials,” said John Reed, executive director of Robert Half Technology. “Additionally, the rise of social media and focus on customer-facing technologies have created additional demand for Web professionals and applications developers.”
According to the salary guide, Web designers will see the greatest starting salary gains of any job classification in 2011, with base compensation expected to rise 5.5 percent to between $50,750 and $83,000 annually.
“With social media being closely tied to an organization’s success, there is strong demand for skilled Web designers who can create customer-friendly Web experiences,” Reed said.
Other key findings from the “Robert Half Technology Salary Guide 2011” include:
• Base compensation for ERP technical developers — who tailor ERP software for their organizations — is projected to increase 5.2 percent next year to a range of $79,250 to $109,500.
• Average starting salaries for business intelligence analysts will rise 5 percent to the range of $82,500 to $116,250 annually.
• Data modelers can expect base compensation in the range of $80,750 to $111,250, a gain of 4.5 percent over 2010.
• Network managers will see average starting salaries rise 4.3 percent to the range of $79,250 to $109,500 per year.
• Base compensation for IT auditors will increase 4.2 percent, with starting salaries of $77,750 to $108,000 annually, on average.
Industries forecasting particularly strong demand for IT professionals in 2011 include business services, transportation and health care.
“There is a strong need for IT professionals in health care in particular,” Reed said. “We’ve seen a strong demand for IT professionals — from developers to help desk — to assist with the conversion to electronic medical records.”
