IT salaries of 2004 

I feel confident in predicting that our seventh annual compensation survey will be the most widely read, frequently downloaded, and broadly circulated article we’ll publish all year. There’s no voodoo involved in making such a prediction; according to our Web stats, the survey is the overwhelming traffic winner, year after year. After all, how much money you and your peers make — and by extension, what you can hope to make in the future — is a subject that never fails to fascinate.

In this same space one year ago, my colleague Kevin McKean scanned the depressing results of the 2003 survey and found a silver cloud or two, positing that we had finally hit bottom. Based on our 2004 results, Kevin may have been on to something. Not only has the salary slide stopped, but the percent of people reporting salary increases has climbed during the past three years. What’s more, the average percent of IT budget allocated to staff remains consistent. Maybe, just maybe, we’ve reached the end to downsizing.

The survey results hide some surprising trends. According to Janet King, of IDG Research, which conducted the study, this year’s salary fluctuations correlated to job titles and company size. “Salaries for staff positions remained relatively flat in large companies,” she notes. “But small [fewer than 100 employees] and midsize companies [from 100 to 999 employees] took a hit.” After dropping last year, senior management salaries bounced back to 2002 levels. “Maybe last year, companies were cutting from the top,” King speculates. But not this year, as base salaries for less senior management titles — database manager, app dev manager, and the like — dipped substantially, especially among midsize companies. Some of that drop was offset by higher bonuses for junior management and staff, even as senior management bonuses dropped by 11.5 percent. “So while salaries for that group dropped off, companies seem to be compensating them in other ways,” King says. Still, in the current environment, it pays to be big. And it certainly doesn’t hurt to be senior either.

On another note, due to overwhelming response to our Product Previews page, we’ve set up a Web-based form where IT companies can submit new and upcoming products for consideration. Available at infoworld.com/previews, the form allows vendors to categorize their products and provide descriptions, pricing, availability, and other details. Streamlining the process should also make it easier for our staff to sort through the high volume of submissions and select the most interesting and significant products for follow-up. If you’re an IT vendor, please scrap the newproducts@infoworld.com address and hop on your browser instead. The InfoWorld staff, and its groaning inboxes, will thank you.