Dive Brief:
- Robert Half Technology released its 2016 Salary Guide for Technology Professionals and found there is still more demand than supply for IT professionals, creating a competitive environment with many financial incentives.
- In both the U.S. and Canada, the average salary range has increased for every IT position.
- Some of the positions with the largest expected salary gains include chief security officer, big data engineer, data scientist and wireless network engineer.
Dive Insight:
The tech C-suite, including CIO, CSO and CTO titles, should have a good salary year in 2016, according to Robert Half. CIOs are expected to see a 4.9% salary increase over 2015, CTOs a 5.2% increase and CSOs a 7% increase. Big Data Engineers will see the largest expected salary bump over 2015, which is predicted to jump 8.9%.
The IT areas with the strongest growth and the smallest pools of talent to pull from are seeing fierce competition, which is driving salaries up.
“Highly skilled and experienced IT professionals, even those who aren’t actively seeking jobs, often receive multiple offers,” the report said. “And the employment offers are fiercely competitive.”
Certain industries are hiring tech talent at a faster rate than others. Financial services, healthcare and managed services will be the hottest industries for IT professionals this year, according to the report.
The report also predicts that the growing popularity of wearable computing devices – such as watches and glasses – could drive IT job creation.
“Expertise will be needed for the development of new devices and related applications, as well as to support the adoption of wearable technology in the workplace,” the report said.
