IT Pros See Upswing in Salaries Amid Strong Job Market

It’s a good time to be an IT professional, especially with large enterprises.

The median salary for all IT pros is over $93,000, up nearly 3 percent year over year, according to Janco Associates. The median was just a shade under $90,500 at the start of 2018. In large enterprises, the median compensation increased from $93,669 to $96,875.

“The economic picture has created a positive outlook for job growth in general and information technology in particular,” said Janco CEO Victor Janulaitis. “However, we are now seeing both an increase in attrition rates within the IT function and many positions that remain unfilled because qualified candidates cannot be found. This is causing CIOs and HR departments to rethink both existing salary pay rates and the salaries that are being offered to potential employees.”

In the last 12 months, compensation for IT executives have fared better in large companies than in midsize companies, with increases of 3.9 percent versus 2.8 percent. More than 80,000 net new jobs were created for IT pros during that time.

Some markets like the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston and Salt Lake City are suffering significant shortages of qualified IT pros, according to Janco. Technology centers like San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta, the District of Columbia, New York and Washington state continued to lead the way in new IT job creation.

Large organizations are planning to beef up their middle management as those enterprises focus on big data, blockchain, search engine optimization (SEO), and smartphone and tablet connectivity.

Positions in highest demand are associated with e-commerce, application development security, big data, distributed/mobile system project management, and quality control.

“CIOs are now more optimistic about the direction their organizations are moving and are looking forward to increased budgets and staffing,” Janulaitis said. “However, with the improved employment opportunities, they are facing challenges in both compensation levels paid and promotion opportunities for existing staff. Some have already experienced the loss of highly qualified IT pros who have moved on and increased the attrition rate for IT pros.”