If you are working in the IT or technology industry, you may have made the best choice for the current economic climate. In fact, more people than ever are going back to college in hopes of looking for a job in the tech industry.
The technology field is doing well, despite our current recession. According to a recent report from Rueters, more U.S. Technology and engineering workers received bonuses and pay raises last year than in 2009. Even though it seems that the pay raises were small for those professionals who weren't employed with large, silicon valley companies.
The data was compiled by Dice, and it the data showed that IT workers earned, on average, $79,384, which is up a thousand dollars over last year. The study showed that almost half of these employees received raises this past year. Of course, you have to keep in mind that the salary data includes figures from people who work in California's Silicon Valley and in larger metro-areas like Washington, D.C/Baltimore/Northern Virginia area. Those employees, on average, made between $99,028 - $89,149 per year.
Although the salaries are a bit lower in other cities like Atlanta and Philadelphia, even those rose at a faster pace than other industries, and may even catch up with the salary rate of the larger cities. The industry is doing so well, in fact, that the national unemployment rate for employees in the information industry was hovering at 8.1%, which is a whole point lower than the national rate of 9.4%. Even government data agrees that the industry is faster to hire skilled workers, with the average time it takes to find a new job after being unemployed less than in other industries.
The reason that so many employees in the tech industry are getting raises and bonuses even in this economic downturn is that, as the job market improves, it will be even easier for skilled workers to make the move to other companies. This puts the pressure on the employers to retain their best employees. This is why over 29% of companies gave their IT professionals bonuses.
The most interesting thing that the survey found was that within the industry, the best way to get a higher salary is to work for a larger company. The difference is that companies that have over 5,000 employees or more pay almost $20,000 more per year. And that isn't small change. But, it is certain that as the economy rebounds, the smaller companies will have to start increasing their salaries in order to compete with the larger companies for the best employees.
What do you think about this study? Did you get a raise or a bonus this year? Let me know in the comments.
Are you looking for a new job in the tech field? Be sure to visit TechCareers.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for TechCareersBlog, along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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