Web 2.0 sends web developer pay skyrocketing

A surge in demand for web skills on the back of web 2.0 successes including MySpace and YouTube has propelled pay for top web developers up a quarter over the last year.

Web developers saw demand for their skills droop after the dot-com boom but it is now bouncing back up according to research from SkillsMarket/Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo).

It said annual salaries for IT professionals skilled in key web technologies (Java, Enterprise JavaBeans, Microsoft .Net and BEA Weblogic Server) have risen by an average of 27 per cent over the past year.

The increase in online multimedia applications, such as podcasts, and the growth of web advertising is generating strong demand for their skills, said ATSCo CEO Ann Swain.

But whereas in the late 1990s there was a big rush to train in web development, now the excitement is more muted. She predicted that pay for web developers will continue to rise as long as the twin pressures of demand for internet technologies and under-supply of skills remain in place.

Web developers with Java skills can demand £35,000 per annum, while those with Enterprise Java Beans knowledge can ask as much as £50,000, the report claims. Those with .Net skills could be taking home £41,250.