Companies are increasing IT salaries in order to attract and retain talent in a highly competitive hiring market, and the security profession in particular is red-hot, according to IDG’s Computerworld 2015 IT Salary Survey.
The report lists average 2015 salaries for more than 50 job titles at senior IT management, middle IT management and staff levels.
“Computerworld’s 29th annual IT Salary Survey results show that it’s a buyer’s market for IT professionals in 2015,” said Valerie Potter, Managing Editor, Features at Computerworld. “Hiring managers are facing tough competition for workers with skills in key areas such as mobile, big data and security, and for the first time since the economic downturn we’re seeing significant year-over-year gains in IT compensation.”
Per the survey, in 2015, the average increase in total compensation (salary plus bonus) for IT workers increased 3.6% in 2015, compared to an average of 2% in each of the prior three years. With salaries up, unemployment down and open positions, it’s a great time to be looking for a job in IT — and many employers are willing to loosen the purse strings to keep the top performers they’ve got.
Compensation is one of the biggest motivators for IT professionals, with nearly half (49%) of respondents reporting base salary as one of the most important aspects of their current position.
Only three out of 10 respondents cited the “challenge of the job and responsibility” as a key motivator.
Security professionals are in extremely high demand, due to several recent high-profile security breaches at major companies. For security-related positions such as Chief Security Officer and Information Security Manager, increases in total compensation rose 6.7% and 5.3%, respectively, year-over-year.
Overall, 67% of IT workers reported receiving a raise in 2015, compared to 60% last year, 57% in 2013 and 47% in 2012.
Methodology: Computerworld’s 29th annual IT Salary Survey was administered via the Internet. The survey results include responses from both Computerworld digital magazine subscribers and visitors to Computerworld.com. The collection of data began on Oct. 2, 2014, and concluded on Dec. 18. A total of 5,484 people responded to the survey. Of those respondents, 4,863 were employed full time or part time and were eligible to complete the entire survey. At the 95% confidence level, the margin of error for this sample size is 1.4 percentage points.