IT budgets are declining--except in the salary department, Meta reports
The reluctance of corporations to invest in IT resources does not extend to IT salaries, says the newly released 2003 IT Staffing and Compensation Guide, an annual report by Meta Group Inc. While most IT managers report that IT budgets will be flat or slightly smaller this year from last, they also report that average IT salaries will increase 5%, with hot skills commanding increases of 8-10%, Meta reports. Additionally, 61% of IT managers say IT compensation consumes 25%-50% of their budgets vs. 40% last year.
"There is little question that IT budgets will continue to decline slightly or remain flat this year," says Maria Schafer, program director of META Group`s Human Capital Management Service and author of the report. "What is most interesting is the fact that, despite this, we expect IT compensation to actually rise, in some cases at the expense of non-IT employees."
The overwhelming majority of firms continue to pay IT employees higher salaries than their non-technical counterparts, and the number of companies doing so has increased again, with 75% of respondents indicating this compared to 67% last year. Meta says the 75% is nudging up to the historic high of 80% in 2000.
Meta says the compensation disparity is partly the result of the need to retain key IT staff.
The top retention incentive remains the cash bonus. According to the guide, 54% of respondents offer IT employees a year-end bonus, while 44% are using sign-on bonuses as a means to attract higher-level IT employees--a practice many thought died with the dot-com investment implosion.
The report is based on surveys of more than 650 large and midsize companies spanning 14 industries. The report provides salary and bonus information for nearly 180 IT positions.
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