* Dice's 2006 Annual Salary Survey
IT job site dice.com’s annual salary survey shows that IT salaries grew 5.2% from 2005 to 2006, bringing average pay to $73,308. The results indicate that managers are competing for tech talent by using higher pay to lure entry-level workers.
Dice’s 2006 Annual Salary Survey is based on responses from more than 19,000 IT pros. According to the study, the largest salaries went to those with experience in ERP, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance and CRM. ERP expertise commanded an average salary of $96,161; SOX compliance $91,998, and CRM $90,499.
Starting pay outpaced the national average, increasing a healthy 13.1% to $42,414 in 2006. And those with one to two years of experience also realized strong gains, with an average increase of 13.8% bringing pay to $46,935 in 2006.
Banking, finance and insurance offered the highest IT pay, with the average IT salary in that industry ringing in at $82,504 last year. Telecommunications and computer software followed with average salaries of $78,003 and $77,582, respectively. In terms of a percentage increase, though, retail and e-commerce posted the biggest gain with a 14.2% bringing average IT pay to $63,830.
Once again, Silicon Valley tops the charts as the metropolitan area offering the highest average IT pay of $90,310. Other big spending areas include Boston, New York and Baltimore, Washington, D.C.
The gender gap narrowed slightly but was still prevalent. Last year, women in technology earned an average of 9.7% less than men, as compared to a gap of 10.9% in 2005. There were some notable areas of exception. Females earned more than their male IT counterparts in help desk, technical writing and IT executive positions such as CEO, CIO, CTO, vice presidents and directors. In the latter category, women brought home average pay of $109,912, 1.4% than their male counterparts in those roles.
