2011 IT Skills and Salary Report
Author: Global Knowledge
Summary
The 2011 IT Skills and Salary Report from Global Knowledge and
TechRepublic is a compilation of crucial data from over 12,000 IT
and business professionals. It contains detailed salary information
on popular certifications, salary breakdowns by state and region,
comparison data from 2011 vs. 2010, and much more.
Introduction
While the global economic recession of recent years has largely
been replaced by a lethargic recovery, many workers continue to be
impacted by job loss, reduction in salary and benefits, or job
change. IT professionals have felt the impact of these economic
tremors along with the rest of their colleagues. Organizations
continue to use computers, networks, and software applications as
the primary tools for doing business - in fact many have increased
their reliance on IT systems in the face of streamlined staffing -
but these organizations are also changing the ways they do business
and looking for efficiencies wherever they can find them.
Our annual skills and salary survey, the fourth in partnership
between Global Knowledge and TechRepublic, sought to capture the
magnitude of these changes. As a result, new questions have been
added to yield deeper insight into the factors effecting job
satisfaction, the importance of skills development with training
delivered across multiple delivery methods, current and expected
business conditions by industry, and expected areas of concerns in
the year to come.
Over 12,000 IT professionals from around the globe responded to
the survey, which was completed online between October 11 to
November 19, 2010. Respondents from the United States and Canada
accounted for 84 percent of all responses. Complete survey
methodology can be found on page 21.
For the third straight year, the stagnant economic environment
held salaries in check for the IT profession. The average salary
for survey respondents this year was $79,579, down 3.2 percent from
the 2010 survey ($82,115). Although average salaries in the
industry gave up some ground, it's important to note that they are
still eight percent higher than $73,900 recorded in our 2008 study.
This trend is consistent with findings from other IT industry
studies(1). Current trends affecting IT workers include 1) Changes
in the way IT departments are funded and staffed, which has
resulted in layoffs and salary and benefits reductions, and 2)
Shifting some IT activities to "the cloud," managed services, or
offshore outsourcing in order to drive greater efficiency in IT
spending.
