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2002 SAGE Salary Survey Finally Released

Posted by timothy on from the or-hardly-working dept.

Ted Cabeen writes "The 2002 Salary Survey run by SAGE, SANS, and Sun's BigAdmin Group profiled in a March Slashdot Article has finally been released. Everybody who participated in the survey is entitled to a copy, as well as current members of those groups. How does your salary stack up in the post-crash economy?"

13 of 343 comments (clear)

  1. What salary?!?!? by bryan1945 · · Score: 5, Funny

    You insensitive clod!

    (so bored... so bored... so bored...)

    --
    Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
  2. Alternative link to survey by while(true) · · Score: 5, Informative

    Can also be downloaded from SANS here.

  3. Short summary by while(true) · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Despite economic coldrums, the average of all the salary changes (including the negative ones) for 2002 came across full-time workers worldwide was plus 8.15% when calculated for annulized salaries. Fully 1,810 respondents (24.03%) saw no salary change or reduced their salary. Of the 54.54% who increased their salaries 0-30% the mean increase was 8.88%"

  4. Survey is /.'d, but I need to post anyway. by jeaster · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I work for a rather large unicolor octo-barred-logo company. Our salary reviews come once a year, in April, with little chance of a raise in between them. This year they handed down a new policy. Part 1: All employee's below a certain band, err, salary range, and who are performing at at least the "I have no reason to fire you" performance rating, get a raise. A 3% raise, but a raise none the less. Part 2: The "variable" bonus which is counted as part of our salary, is now cut in half. This "variable" bonus by the way, has gone down each and every year I have been with this company. Now instead of top performers getting somewhere between 12.5% and 16%, I believe 6.5% is going to be the best you can do. Part 3: To save money this year, all pay increases, which normally take effect May 1, will not take effect until July. I was one of the 'lucky' ones. I got a Band, err, salary range increase, which usually guarantees a better raise. Not this time. All told, if I am a top performer (not handed out too often) with my variable bonus, I will be making slightly less than the bottom figure on my new pay scale. Great. Makes the frequent 80 hour weeks (no overtime pay) Sooooooo worth it. I do however, understand that I am in fact lucky to have a job to bitch about. I am lucky I am not one of my contracter coworkers whose pay has been cut multiple times over the last year, and get two weeks off, without pay. I also understand that what makes some of this possible is also the same reason I can't spell the name of any internal help desk agent I have to call, or understand half of what they are saying. I truly dread seeing this Salary Survey.....I am afraid once I see the numbers, my Red Swingline(tm) and I will have to take action. Good Luck to us all, thanks for the forum to get this out. J.

  5. Re:Post the text by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    Metro Area || Avg. Salary || %Incr || %Resp
    San Francisco/San Jose/Silicon Valley, CA Metro Area 87,238 6.2 11.4
    New York Metro Area 85,010 8.3 8.1
    Boston, MA, Metro Area 77,211 4.7 6.7
    Washington, DC Metro Area 75,614 10.3 12.6
    Philadelphia, PA, Metro Area 74,343 5.5 3.6
    Dallas,TX Metro Area 73,390 7.4 4.7
    Los Angeles/ Orange Co., CA Metro Area 73,285 9.4 7.7
    Atlanta, GA Metro Area 70,809 7.0 4.8
    Chicago, IL Metro Area 70,448 8.5 7.5
    Denver, CO Metro Area 69,493 5.1 4.6
    London, England Metro Area 69,486 6.5 1.3
    Seattle/Redmond,WA Metro Areas 69,082 7.6 5.6
    San Diego, CA Metro Area 68,969 11.0 3.5
    Houston,TX Metro Area 68,194 7.7 2.7
    Research Triangle, NC Metro Area 67,261 6.8 2.5
    Austin,TX Metro Area 65,606 9.3 2.6
    Ottawa, ON Metro Area 52,520 4.0 2.2
    Toronto, ON Metro Area 50,506 9.8 2.9
    Sydney, Australia Metro Area 50,503 10.6 1.2
    Vancouver, BC Metro Area 44,451 6.9 2.2
    Montreal, QC Metro Area 43,616 10.9 1.6

  6. Vacation days by Malc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So Americans have to work 20+ years with a company to get the standard holiday allowance for a European in their first year on the job. Americans who change jobs won't on average ever reach that level. I wonder how worker happiness compares between the two continents - and no, I don't give a fig about where the businesses are more profitable, that doesn't equate to happiness.

    1. Re:Vacation days by ojQj · · Score: 5, Interesting
      I'm an American working in Germany. I've been at the company 3 years. I get 29 days of vacation a year, but my after tax, after health insurance net is about half of what I figure it would be in the States. Clothes, cars, and apartments are also all more expensive in Germany. Food is less expensive. My health care is more expensive and of a lower quality here than it would be in the states. On the other hand I get access to good public transportation, the streets are clean and in good condition. Violent crime rates are also low.

      Worker happiness doesn't vary in response to one variable alone.

      That being said, I really do enjoy my 29 days of vacation, and I can live reasonably comfortably on my pay.

  7. For People in the U.S. by gfxguy · · Score: 5, Informative

    Try this one.

    --
    Stupid sexy Flanders.
  8. Pardon my rant... by ArmenTanzarian · · Score: 5, Insightful

    but all these surveys do is give people false impressions of worth. You could glean from this thing that you should be making 70k with a bachelors degree or that being a woman with the same experience as I have you're worth 10k more than I am.

    A young woman at my last job got fired because she went in to demand higher pay after she got her masters in accordance with one of these surveys. She worked for the company for the whole time and they paid for her education, but she decided to hop up the ladder and start emailing stats like this to the VP's. I mean really, what loaded sysadmin women fill these things out and do they need a developer and/or boyfriend!?!

  9. Re:Salaries are for sissies! by Oddly_Drac · · Score: 5, Funny

    "I'm in Italy and i found a way to start my business online for just 20 bucks a month... and now i am my own boss, and make more than i did at my previous job."

    Why am I expecting the next line to be 'Herbal Viagra really works! Here are some testimonials...'

    --
    Oddly Draconis
    Too cynical to live, too stubborn to die.
  10. My boss didn't lie to me. by reboot246 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I thought he meant I'd be paid weekly, but he really meant weakly .

  11. Is it just me? or do these numbers seem odd by Kevin+Stevens · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Maybe I am just getting F'ed... but I am in the 1-2 years experience range, and I know hardly anyone (programmers included) in the IT field who are making 50k a year (the average reported in the survey is (50,558 for 0-1 year guys w/ a bachelor), and certainly not any sysadmins at all- and thats in the NY metro area, where the costs of living (and thus salaries) are quite high. The fact that those in the 2 year range see a 5k drop in average salaries really makes me wonder if they had enough of a random sample, and a large enough sample altogether. Similarly, when I see average raises in certain metro areas being 87.5%, I think there is something significantly flawed in this survey to actually use it for anything meaningful. I get the feeling this survey attracted types who wanted to show off their earnings, or raises. I mean how can the group of 5-9 years guys get 6.8% average raises, while guys w/ 10-14 years experiene recieved a whopping 22.6% increase, yet their elder 15-19 group also only recieved 6.9% raises. I just cant see how this could happen to the actual group overall. Another glaring hole- guys with 1-2 years experience falling into the ambiguously defined 'level 4' (4 being highest) group. That many people came out of school and rose to CTO in a year? It is interesting, but to use this as a basis for actual salary comparison doesnt seem right. It seems even less scientific than a slashdot poll to me.

  12. Working Too Hard? by Accord+MT · · Score: 5, Insightful
    WORKING TOO HARD?

    Ten hour days? No vacation?

    Training your replacement in your company's new Bangalore office???

    STOP!

    How would you like to get out of that rat race? I have stumbled on a secret way to free yourself from the wage slavery and mind burn-out you are suffering at your current job. And I'm giving the secret away for FREE!

    Let me tell you something, folks. I used to be a lot like you. I was working for a company that insisted on pushing their employees over the edge. What I found was, most workers not only took it, but gladly bent over and rubbed in the vaseline! These folks never understood the secret that I am about to reveal to you absolutely FREE!

    So here it is! Follow this simple four step process to dislodge yourself from corporate America once and for all:

    1. Quit your job!!! The most obvious step is the step that is the most inconceivable to the average American worker. Every day at your job is living hell. You dread going to your job every morning. Your job is the source of all your frustration and grief. QUIT! It's that easy. QUIT! When I realized I was working for a company that couldn't give a shit about me and was trying every day to find ways of milking more work out of me, I just up and left... It was such a breath of fresh air. Get a part-time job bartending or doing manual labor while you accomplish the rest of the steps...

    2. Kill your monthly expenses!!! Pay off those high-interest credit cards! Only spend with them what you can pay off in full every month. Most of my former co-workers were so buckled under credit card debt but they were happy to keep spending more, because all they ever payed was the monthly minimum. They're going to be in for a surprise in three or four years. Sell the shit that drains your wallet! That Lexus SUV sitting there in your garage? Sell it immediately and buy a 5 year old Honda with cash. Let me tell you you won't miss that $600/mo payment! Expensive home or apartment in the city? Get out of that lease or sell it, and buy a nice humble townhouse in the suburbs. You might not be able to get rid of this "monthly" but it sure feels nice taking $500/mo or so out of it. Health club contract? Multiple cell phones/pagers? Expensive Internet connection?? You guessed it! Get them out of your life. Live SIMPLY. Not only is it cheaper, but you don't feel like such a consumer whore every month when you pay the bills!!

    3. Stop buying so much shit! Al Greenspan says consumer spending is good for the economy, but who is he kidding? It's only good for the corporate execs you are currently freeing yourself from. Buy generics if you have to buy at all. Spend your money not on gadgets and trinkets but on things that fulfill your life--travel, a humble home that's yours and not the bank's, that little restarant you were always wanting to start up--whatever is your thing.

    4. Do hourly contract work when you need money, and relax when you don't. Look at your new budget. Hell you can probably contract at HALF of what you were making before, and have plenty of time for what is important in your life.

    Follow this four step process and rid your life of the work-consume rat race!

    I can't emphasize it enough. That first step is crucial. QUIT THAT JOB NOW. QUIT QUIT QUIT QUIT QUIT QUIT QUIT. Or, even better, get fired and collect unemployment! You've been paying for unemployment your whole life, so take a little for yourself! Make a promise to yourself: I will quit by next Thursday. I will quit after the next paycheck. And DO IT! Don't go updating your resume, looking for another sinking ship to jump to. JUST GET OUT OF THAT HELL HOLE OF A JOB RIGHT NOW!

    Today is a lot better for me than it was two years ago, and I make LESS than what I used to! I work hourly, doing contract work for whoever needs a little programming. When I want