Cloud skills deliver 45% pay boost

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 14 February 2012 05:33

ICT professionals with the right level of cloud computing experience are commanding salary premiums of 25-45 per cent compared to their cloud-free peers.

According to recruitment specialist Hudson ICT people 'cloud is king'. The organisation found that people with market tested cloud skills and security specialists are in particular high demand by Australian enterprises and can command significant salary hikes.

The company released these findings from its 2012 salary and employments insight report today, which also revealed that the majority of employers last year provided their ICT staff with a modest salary increase of 2-4 per cent, and a similar level of increase is anticipated this year.

In all 52 per cent of ICT employees got a rise last year, while 27 per cent managed to score an increase of 10 per cent or higher.

However companies are more often than not willing to hire candidates they consider second best rather than accede to what employers consider inflated salary expectations.

Hudson's report found that 38 per cent of hiring managers said that they would be increasing permanent staff numbers in the next 12 months. However 55 per cent reported feeling pressured to increase quality of hires while keeping a lid on costs,

The report notes the challenge will be; 'To distinguish between value and cost when recruiting.'

Forty four per cent of hiring managers said that their preferred job candidates often expected a deal more money than was on offer. Instead of rising to meet those expectations and securing the preferred candidate 54.2 per cent of employers said that they settled for their second choice candidate rather than upping their offer for the preferred professional.