Some IT skills hot, even in down economy

Pay for noncertified and certified skills continues to dip slightly as the recession wears on, but second quarter research from Foote Partners shows certain high-tech know-how yielded compensation increases.

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Foote Partners, which tracks pay premiums for hundreds of IT skills, this week released its most recent findings that show pay for noncertified and certified skills at nearly 2,000 U.S. and Canadian employers declined an average of 0.6% and 1.5%, respectively. The firm attributes the decline in pay for some 46 IT skills to the continued economic pressure.

“There is no sugar-coating this dreary economy and its impact on commerce,” said David Foote, co-founder, CEO and chief research officer at Foote Partners, in the firm’s recently released research.

Yet the research also revealed some skills that continue to see pay increases despite the downturn. Foote says that 28 IT skills and certifications saw increases in value over the time period.

“The evidence is clear from six full months of 2009 trend data now available that employers are depending on IT’s leadership and ability not only in running operations efficiently and cost effectively, but in developing and delivering products and services that keep their companies globally competitive in very uncertain market conditions,” he says.

For instance, noncertified management, methodology and process skills increased an average of 1.1% in value this year and 0.6% in the past three months, Foote Partners reports. Business process management and modeling skills in particular experienced a 15.4% market value gain since January, and project management skills saw market value gains of 16.7% in the same timeframe.

As for certified skills, Foote says, IT security certifications posted “solid numbers from April to June.” In fact, security certifications lead all categories of skills, experiencing a 2% gain over the past 12 months – while certifications overall saw a loss of 4.1% during the same timeframe.

“IT leaders are starting to recognize that the real risks they have to manage are well beyond the perimeter of their environment and into a lot of data that they need to protect. It goes beyond compliance,” Foote says.

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