IT managers will earn $91,000 this year in salary plus bonuses -- that's median annual compensation -- up about 8 percent from $84,000 a year ago, according to Network Computing's National Salary Survey of 1,400 IT managers and staff. IT employees not in management positions will receive $70,000 in compensation this year, an increase of 12 percent from the $62,150 they earned in 2000.
The study was conducted in conjunction with Network Computing's sister publication InformationWeek. The results are based on a comprehensive survey of IT salary and compensation issues, as well as on an in-depth survey of technology expertise and certification (click here for results and methodology).
While just less than half the IT managers in the survey said their compensation grew by 10 percent or less over the past year, more than one-quarter said it increased by 11 percent to 25 percent. About half the IT staffers said their compensation grew by 10 percent or less over the past year, with nearly one-quarter saying it increased by 11 percent to 25 percent.
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National Salary Survey
Click on our charts page to see how participants answered questions on IT salary and compensation issues, technology expertise and certification.
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Base salaries, too, got even healthier. IT managers will earn a median annual base salary of $75,000 this year, up about 10 percent from $68,000 in 2000. IT staffers will earn $59,000 in salary, up 13 percent from $52,000 last year.
Analysts say it's no surprise that salaries are still going up, despite the dot-com disasters and economic concerns. "There's been some hype about the overall economy slowing down," says Maria Schafer, program director of human capital management at Meta Group, who follows IT labor and compensation trends. "It's certainly true in some sectors, but it's not yet a widespread slowdown, and that's why these [salary and compensation] numbers continue to be up there."
William Seltzer, executive vice president and CIO of Office Depot, in Delray Beach, Fla., says business conditions indeed have forced many companies to do some belt-tightening. "But cuts tend to come more in the areas of outside contractors and help rather than in-house staff," Seltzer says. "Demand for IT projects is certainly healthy; our list of what we want to do far exceeds what we can do."
The Bigger the Better
Not surprisingly, IT professionals at large companies earn higher pay and bonuses than workers at smaller enterprises, according to the survey. Managers at companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue will receive $100,000 in total compensation, compared with $95,000 for those at companies in the range of $100 million to $1 billion, and $81,700 for managers at companies with less than $100 million in revenue.
Staffers at the largest companies will take in a median $79,000 in compensation, while their counterparts at midsize companies will get $69,125, and at smaller companies, $64,500.
Aside from differences in pay based on company revenue, the gender gap still exists for some jobs: Male IT staffers will earn more in salary than females -- about $60,000 for men, compared with $52,000 for women. But the gap closes at the manager level, with both men and women earning a median $75,000 for IT management positions. And women IT managers will receive a higher total compensation this year than men -- $92,250, versus $91,000 for male IT managers.
Growing older has its advantages, as median salaries generally climb steadily with age for managers and staffers of both sexes. Managers 25 and under will earn a median salary of $48,250; those 26 to 35, $70,000; 36 to 45, $78,000; 46 to 55, $75,000; and over 55, $87,000. Staffers aged 25 and under will receive a median salary of $44,000; 26 to 35, $55,000; 36 to 45, $60,000; 46 to 55, $62,500; and over 55, $72,000.
Location also dictates salary ranges for managers and staffers: The bigger the city, the bigger the salary, until you factor in the cost of living (see "The Best Cities To Work In").
As with total compensation, salaries increase along with the size of the company, for both staffers and managers. For instance, staffers who work at companies with more than $1 billion in revenue earn $67,500, while those at companies with revenue of $100 million to $1 billion make a median salary of $59,000, and those at companies with less than $100 million in revenue earn $50,000.
And if you have hot skills, your salary improves. As a matter of fact, in companies of all sizes, IT managers and staffers who are skilled in ERP (enterprise resource planning) will earn a significantly higher median base salary this year over last year -- $80,000. Other high-paying skills include CRM (customer relationship management), with a base salary of $75,000; application design, $73,000; systems integration/business analysis, $73,000; and enterprise application integration, $72,750.
Network and systems infrastructure professionals earn somewhat less -- $63,000. Nevertheless, networking and Web-related skills continue to be among the highest in demand: IT managers and staffers were asked which technologies they have used extensively in the past year, and Internet/intranet came out on top, cited by about 60 percent. Network and systems infrastructure also scored high, with 55 percent.
"Networking skills continue to be an area of high demand," says Meta Group's Schafer. "Many organizations are still in the process of establishing e-commerce initiatives. They really need to have these skills in place, and there are still too few people who have them. The networking category accounts for the biggest block of jobs that need to be filled."
People with skills in wireless communications and mobile computing will be in especially high demand over the next several years, Schafer adds.
IT managers say they don't expect to curtail hiring of networking personnel anytime soon. "We hire a lot of graduates right out of school because they have learned a lot of these skills and provide great support as we continue to use more of the Internet and intranets," says James Dahl, IS manager at Fort Atkinson Memorial Health Services in Fort Atkinson, Wis. "We need people who can understand how all these technologies work together."
Kapco Machinery Systems, a maker of machine tools for manufacturing in Roanoke, Va., is looking for people with knowledge about the Web and other networking technologies. "We have seen more manufacturing companies begin demanding Web access to product and other information, so we will need more people with those skills," says CIO Barbara Hauger.
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