Report: IT salaries, benefits falling in U.S.

Jake Widman
Wednesday, 01 July 2009 03:50

Business IT - Technology

According to a new survey, IT salaries in the U.S. have fallen over the past 18 months, many companies have frozen hiring and spending, and IT workers are paying a greater share of the cost of their benefits.

The bleak findings from Janco Associates' 2009 IT Compensation Survey are no surprise, but there are some bright spots in the gloom.

The survey found that several factors are exerting a downward pressure on salaries: layoffs have created a large pool of IT professionals, outsourcing has continued to grow, and employees are putting off retirement.

"There are over 200 IT professionals in the Metro New York are who earned well into six figures that are looking for work due to mergers, bankruptcies, and layoffs," the Janco announcement said.

Meanwhile, companies are making the jobs that are available less attractive, reducing bonuses, eliminating flexible work schedules, and forcing employees to pay a greater portion of their health care benefits.

The survey did report an increased demand for project managers, with concomitantly higher salaries being offered for workers in those positions.

At the top of the list were project managers of distributed systems in large enterprises, whose median salary is still more than US$95,000.

Furthermore, middle managers in large enterprises saw a 0.43 percent increase in their median salaries, while executives in midsize enterprises saw a 1.83 percent decrease.

Overall, IT average salaries are down 0.19 percent since January 2008.

The full report costs $249 and is can be ordered here.