Working in IT today is a tale of two trends: the best of times, as pay climbs precipitously; and the worst of times, as morale suffers due to declining staff and longer hours.
[See also: Salary survey by the numbers | Survey in PDF]
According to the 2007 InfoWorld Compensation Survey of 1,886 IT professionals, pay is inarguably on the rise. Nearly doubling last year’s moderate gains, overall IT compensation surged 8.8 percent this year, thanks to bigger salaries and even bigger bonus checks. Reduced competition for jobs and brighter prospects for company growth are spurring pay hikes across the spectrum of IT positions, flushing the post-millennial doldrums of subinflation raises from recent memory and replacing them with dreams of earning even more.
Yet personal gains have not slowed the downward slide of morale in most organizations. Difficulty convincing the suits to increase IT headcount tops the list of frustrations, as the erosion of perceived respect for the value of IT at many companies continues unabated. And to meet staffing needs on the cheap, the majority of companies are going overseas: Offshoring will accelerate past a symbolic tipping point by mid-2008 as more companies will rely on the controversial staffing model in the next 12 months than not.
IT pros may finally be partly getting their due, but they’re still dogged by the legacy of tight times. Lean staffs, years of low investment, and rising tensions along the IT/business divide threaten to prevent many organizations
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Senior IT: Rising incentives
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