Big money for IT workers yet gaping holes in IT employment are but some of the findings from the 44th Australian Institute of Management (AIM) National Salary Survey released his week.

It canvassed 723 private and publicly-listed employers from a broad range of industries in what is clearly an authoritative sample size.

So, which sector saw the most financial action? The highest remuneration package increases were recorded by the business and professional services industry at 6.5%. However, this is in sharp contrast to the electronics and IT industry, which as a whole only recorded a 4.2% increase, just keeping up with inflation.

Yet when it comes to specific jobs, IT workers were the ones that recorded the highest salary adjustments at 4.8%, independent of industry, slightly ahead of inflation. At the other end of the scale, the lowest was received by manufacturing, supply and distribution workers at 4%.

Workers in WA and Queensland fared better (6.4% and 5.7% respectively) than their colleagues in other states (less than 4.5%) because of the mining, resources and construction boom.

Not surprisingly, senior executives and senior managers who are often criticised for their fat pay packets benefited most from the change, receiving higher adjustments than salaried staff across all industries.

Recruiters, whose noses are right on the employment and salaries grindstone, concur with the findings.

They say salaries have been driven up by a mismatch of demand and skills, and generation Y’s readiness to move jobs for a better salary, although the voluntary IT turnover rate is still lower at 11.4% than the average 13.3% recorded by the survey.

To see what some of the top recruiters say, read on to page 2.