IT Salaries to Rise Twice as Fast as Inflation

CIOs looking to hire skilled IT professionals will pay, on average, 5.3 percent more in 2008 than they did this year, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology’s 2008 IT Salary Guide. As a comparison, the Consumer Price Index rose 2.8 percent this past year.

Click here for a free copy of the Robert Half Technology 2008 Salary Guide.

The biggest increases will go to lead application developers, who manage software development teams and projects, with base compensation expected to rise 7.6 percent to between $80,250 and $108,000 annually. Application architects, also in demand, will average a 7.5 percent increase, with starting salaries ranging from $87,250 to $120,000.

Other skills seeing salary increases of 7 percent or higher include Web development, network management or database administration.

"This was not really a surprise," says Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology, an IT staffing firm. "The strong increases are still in the application development space, especially for individuals that have those Web 2.0 skill sets. Those who can architect and develop Web spaces had the highest increases that we saw, even 7.5 percent in some titles."

Robert Half Technology’s 2008 IT Salary Guide is based on analysis of the job placements managed by the company’s U.S. offices. The analysis found that nearly 15 percent of firms said that they intended to increase their IT staff in 2008.

The company pegged wireless communication as one of the top areas driving IT hiring in U.S. companies, as developers create more and more tools for mobile devices that IT departments are increasingly responsible for supporting. Lee calls this the "gadget factor."

"With everyone’s devices communicating with everyone else’s devices, there is a need for people who are like the air traffic controllers of the IT department," Lee says.

Industries foreseeing strong demand for IT pros next year include financial services, healthcare and commercial construction, the report says.

Go to the next screens to see pay increases and salaries for selected classes of IT professionals. To see all salary data, contact Robert Half Technology.

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