IT salaries defy economic gloom

IT pay is rising faster than at any time in the past three years, according to a salary survey.

Basic IT pay has risen by an inflation-busting 4.8 per cent in the year to May 2008, according to the Celre Computer Staff Salary Survey, while basic IT salaries plus bonuses are up 5.7 per cent.

Demand for tech skills has helped keep pay buoyant, despite wider economic gloom, the salary survey claims, suggesting employers are still struggling to find and keep skilled IT staff.

Average bonuses for IT managers stand at 15.3 per cent of salary, while non-managerial techies receive an average of 8.5 per cent, the survey found.

Tech workers also enjoy better job security than staff in other departments.

The redundancy rate for IT staff stands at 1.6 per cent, while a previous Celre survey of managers showed their redundancy rate had doubled over the past 12 months to three per cent - meaning IT staff are bucking the wider trend.

Mark Crail, Celre managing editor, said in a statement: "IT staff have managed to defy the downward trend of the economy so far. Salaries are still rising faster than inflation and there is little indication that redundancies are becoming any more widespread… This shows that companies are still finding it difficult to recruit and retain IT staff with the skills they need."

Celre surveyed 66,843 IT and computer staff at 572 workplaces.