IT salaries expected to rise over 5 percent in `08

IT salaries expected to rise over 5 percent in `08

Madison, Wis. – Amid conflicting economic signals, highly skilled IT professionals will command average pay increases of 5.3 percent more in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to a new Robert Half Technology survey.
The projected increase, contained in an IT staffing firm’s 2008 IT Salary Guide, offers an additional challenge to chief information officers who have been advised to prepared two budgets for 2008 – one based on continued economic growth and another based on a possible slowdown. Compensation for highly skilled IT workers will rise at nearly twice the rate of the Consumer Price Index, which rose 2.8 percent in 2007.
According to the salary guide, published in the latest edition of CIO Insight, the biggest increases will go to lead application developers, who manage software development teams and projects, with base compensation expected to rise 7.6 percent to between $80,250 and $108,000 annually.
Application architects, also in demand, will average a 7.5 percent increase, with starting salaries ranging from $87,250 to $120,000, the publication said.
Other skills seeing salary increases of 7 percent or higher include Web development, network management, or database administration.
Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology, said the strong increases are still in the application development space, especially for individuals that have Web 2.0 skill sets and those who can architect and develop Web spaces.
The company identified wireless communication as one of the top areas driving IT hiring in U.S. companies because developers are creating more mobile device tools that IT departments are responsible for supporting.
The firm’s salary analysis found that nearly 15 percent of the surveyed firms intend to increase their IT staff in 2008.
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