Archives for Salary

Unless you’re an HR compensation wonk, you may be unaware that most published salary studies utilize data provided by corporate sponsors. The data in employer-based studies is solid, but there’s always something missing. That missing ingredient is the employee’s perspective about their satisfaction with their employer, and their commitment to their career.

That’s precisely the kind of data woven into the DNA of InformationWeek’s 2007 National IT Salary Survey, which is based upon survey results from 7,281 full-time IT professionals.

As my former colleague Chris Murphy reports in a recent issue, “Previously, base salaries were in lockdown mode. In 2004, 2005, and 2006, the median base for staff and managers moved about 1 percent a year–a net decrease considering inflation. This year, the median base pay is up 6.6 percent for managers and 5.7 percent for staffers, well above inflation.”

The study finds that the typical IT manager makes $105,000 in salary and cash bonuses, while the average staffer earns $78,000.

One of the things I like about the study is it asks employees to agree or disagree with psychographic statements such as “I’m highly valued as a business technology professional, and I’m put in a position where I can share my deep experience with colleagues.” Interestingly, only 40 percent of staffers agree with this statement compared to 54 percent of managers.

Among the IT staff and managers currently looking for a new job, more than two-thirds are interested in earning more money. No surprise there. Two in five IT professionals dislike their present employer’s management & culture, which is a fairly high percentage, except when you consider the turmoil this field has experienced the past five or six years.

In a separate item, Marilyn K. McGee points out in The IT Battle of the Sexes, that women in IT who earn .85 cents for every dollar made by their male counterparts, actually have it better than many women in other careers. You have to wonder why women don’t stage a walkout over unfair and unequal compensation policies, but that doesn’t appear to be on anyone’s front burner.