High-Tech Demand Drives Up Salaries

October 5, 2016

Technology has become a driving force across all industries, making the need for IT talent at an all-time high.  As companies work to fill high tech positions, they are faced with the challenge of offering the right compensation packages to entice these individuals or risk losing them to competitors. That’s why we’re seeing companies up the ante and boost salaries as a way to draw-in IT candidates with the right tech minds and experience.

A recent Wall Street Journal article tells how one well-known company found out that investing in tech talent has become a necessity.  In 2012, GE was not interested in paying high dollars to attract engineers to their new software division.  As a result, they were losing tech talent to Apple, Inc. and Cisco Systems, Inc.  Today, four years later, GE’s thinking has changed. They now offer base pay bonuses and equity to software talent to compete with Silicon Valley companies such as Facebook and Google.

There are a variety of high-demand IT positions that are driving up salaries and compensation.  Based on surveys these are the top 8 (salaries are national median incomes): Network Security/Cybersecurity Analyst $103,677, Senior Software Engineer $97,355, IT Project Manager $84,118, Software Engineer $81,397, IT Consultant $75,009, Software Developer $70,173, Network Engineer $69,956, and Systems Administrator $60,905.

However, with the high-demand for tech talent, Software Developers can earn top dollar, even more than the national median income, just out of college.  In fact, according to the Boston Globe, recent software college grads can earn around $90,000 in Massachusetts. Other hotbeds for IT job growth and high salaries are: California, Texas, Florida, New York, and most recently, Colorado.  In addition, these same candidates are also getting as many as 20 recruiting phone calls a day and the promise of a 20-25% bump in salary.

While the need for IT talent is at an all-time high, there’s a real shortage of qualified IT staff in all industries. Colleges and universities have stepped up and started diversifying their technology degrees to include more specialized fields, but it isn’t an instant fix by any means. And since many CIO’s intend to expand their technology plans in Q4 of 2016 and throughout 2017, we will continue to see lucrative salaries for IT professionals.

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