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IT Salaries to Grow 0.5% in 2005
halfacrayon writes "According to Robert Half Technology 2005 Salary Guide, average base pay for IT professionals overall will rise 0.5% in 2005. Data security analysts will command the highest salary (up to $93K), while system auditors will enjoy the highest increase compared to 2004 rates (5.1%). IT instructors are holding the bottom spot in terms of gross revenues (salary could go as low as $43,250) and business systems analysts will barely notice the increase of 1.9% that they should expect in 2005."
As IT has matured it seems that the people who stand to gain are those already employed in the field. Lots of people on here will tell you there are no more IT jobs available in the US, but that is just plain wrong. Check any of the jobs sites or staffing firms and you will find plenty listed. However, most of those are looking for experienced professionals who have several years experience working in industry. If you have that, there are plenty of opportunities out there.
What more people usually bitch about is how the relative difficulty of entering the field has increased for newcomers.
the US job market is going these days?
Imagine dropping a 100 lb. block of lead into a toilet.
W-4 employment is obsolete. Business insisted it be that way.
Business isn't willing to pay for products, innovation and careers, so we get brands, mortgage commercials and layoffs.
That would make sense since cost of living is around there (3% I think) but with a study like this there would be many other factors, especially across an entire industry. Some of these might be like the value of the dollar, outsourcing and the turnover rate for the positions. wish i could read the fine article though - they might even explain it in there :)
meep
I like the company I work for, but unfortunately, I may need to go someplace else if I want my career (and salary) to advance...
...just my 2 gil.
Right... it's gotten harder to waltz in to an industry with very little to bring to the table. I interview a lot, predominantly grads into a fortune 100. It has gotten *easier* to hire people who are good, not because the market is saturated, but because I am getting less people who are pursuing a career in IT purely cos they think it will make them big bucks. I don't want those people, I want people who are interested in what they do. Otherwise, ultimately they are wasting my time, and their own careers. They won't stay long, and they won't enjoy the time they do spend.
Taking some of the "glamour" out will be better for the industry, and it will be a better fit for the people who choose to do this. Money is, or should, be a secondary concern for everyone involved - there are bigger priorities here.
Did you ask for a raise as your responsibilities increased? We grunts have to do this, else employers won't get the message. They probably just brought in a different soul to do what you wouldn't. That won't affect change where it is needed.
At least you had enough sack to draw the line.
You should be making 2 times that, more so since you are a linux admin So why should he be paid more because of Linux? Isn't the TCO of Linux supposed to be *lower* than other operating systems, particularly Windows? Everyone knows that system administration accounts for far more cost than the initial purchase price of the operating system and now you're saying that Linux administraton should cost more? And, yes, he should be making more than 28k. Significantly more. It amazes me how cheap companies can be when their entire operation is on the line. In auto racing, when someone finds an "awesome deal" on a helmet we tell them "$50 helmet for a $50 head".
Insanely bad idea. Now that you blackmailed them into a raise you'll be let go as soon as a suitable replacement is found. Mark my words.
Your pizza just the way you ought to have it.
Because $93k doesn't seem that much for a top notch programmer.
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
Which is sad because I love IT. But I don't want to be around when all the jobs disappear. Like what happened to textiles, aerospace, and manufacturing.
I work in electronics manufacturing, and the jobs haven't all disappeared. Although, you can't just pick up "PCB assembly for dummies" manual and expect to get in. If you're motivated and dedicated then the jobs are there. There are also advanatages for a constricted job market:
1. Your coworkers are talented and really want to be in that field. You don't have to worry about fixing the mess your coworkers make because they are completely clueless and/or unmotivated.
2. The type of work you get is more interesting. While most production is done in other countries, the R&D is still done in the US. So although there are overall less jobs, they are the higher paying, and more fulfilling ones.
The problem with IT right now is it got saturated with "cash grabbers" who didn't care about the industry, they just saw big money with little work. So the supply of "qualified" people is much larger than the demand. Over time it will be much easier for somebody like you who truly loves the field to get a job, although I know it's no consolation for the bleak short-term outlook.
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In the USA, any phrase issued by a company including the word 'freeze' immediately red-lines my bullshitometer. Its just another way of saying, were only giving it to our friends and relatives now.
Whoa, hey, hey, hey. Don't blame India for doing well. Blame America for being a capitalist country, where profit is valued over its citizens livelihoods. India is doing what's right for itself and it's turned out incredibly well for them. Good for them. Perhaps America should figure out how to improve its own situation rather than blaming everyone else for the mess it's gotten itself into.
H1Bs fit very nicely into a capitalist society, where the goal is to attract talented workers from all around the world and retain the best of the best. If you can't compete with that talent, perhaps you should look at another career, move to a country with policies that better reflect your worldview, or fight to have your country's policies changed.
Note that one of the prerequisites for an H1B is that the worker is paid on par with what an American worker at the company is paid and that documentation has to go through INS review. I know this from the experience of having gone through the long, slow process of getting one to work two years in California (originally from Canada, but have worked in the US, Mexico and now live in Japan). There are obviously exceptions, but in my experience, us visa workers were paid on par with our American colleagues. Ensuring that this is the case is not the job of corporations, it's the job of the government. Have a word with them if you suspect a company of violating your country's laws.
In any case, even if companies could get away with paying lower salaries to H1B workers, you can't blame them for taking advantage of a programme that expands the pool of talent available to them, made available to them by the government. It is also the INS's job to ensure that H1Bs are only issued for positions where a qualified American worker could not be found (or didn't apply). In any case, if you don't like the H1B programme or globalization in general, I suggest you address your complaints to your local congressperson or the INS, who are responsible for this sort of thing rather than complaining on slashdot.
Small town living has it's advantages, trust me! I work for a huge mega-corporation near a big city, who's IT department is so under-staffed that we don't have time to make necessary system improvements or update our skills. Anything more than emergency security patches and software upgrades is a luxury right now. At last count, I was administering a mix of over 60 Windows, Linux, and AIX servers. I get paid a lot better than you, fortunately, but the cost of living is so high that do litle more than break even at the end of the year. Not that I have any free time to spend it, anyway.
I'm going to contradict the wage increase. I haven't seen a wage increase in almost 2 years. I won't complain. How many of you actually enjoy going to work? I look forward to my daily experience dealing with the joys of being a programmer, support tech, etc. We'd all like to see a raise, but be real. The average wage going up does not mean you like the job. Choose happiness at work before the extra nickel.
It's all about RTFM.