• silicon.com
• Management
• CIO Insights

By Natasha Lomas, 23 November 2009 16:19

NEWS

Despite the cost-cutting forced on many organisations by the recession, pay packets for the IT management team have held up - and for some even grown.

According to the exclusive silicon.com 2009 Skills Survey a greater proportion of IT chiefs are now taking home bigger pay packets than in last year's survey.

More than half of the CIOs and IT directors who responded to this year's survey reported annual salaries in excess of £70,001 - up on last year when less than half earned that much.

And many IT managers have also got cause to smile this year, with a greater proportion of these tech workers finding themselves at the higher end of the mid-range pay scales. Almost a fifth (19 per cent) now pocket between £55,001 and £70k, up on last year (16 per cent) and 2007 (14 per cent). Meanwhile, more than one in 10 tech managers (13 per cent) are commanding an annual salary of between £70,001 and £110k - also slightly up on last year.

However it's not good news for all IT managers - there's evidence that a growing proportion is finding itself on the bottom rung of the pay ladder. Seventeen per cent of IT managers now make do with under £25k per year, compared to just nine per cent in 2008.

This year IT consultants have seen their earning power grow too, with close to a third (28 per cent) bringing home between £70,001 and £110k per annum - a jump of almost 10 percentage points on last year's result, while just over a fifth (22 per cent) earn between £55,001 and £70k; and a further fifth (20 per cent) get £40,001 to £55k.

Almost one in 10 (eight per cent) of workers in the IT consulting game claim to be taking home more than £110k per year.

Elsewhere in the IT job market, there's evidence that software and web developer's store is rising after a relatively bad 2008 - with almost half (46 per cent) of survey respondents in this job category now earning between £25,001 and £40,000 annually, compared to only a fifth (23 per cent) who did so last year. In addition, less than a fifth (17 per cent) reported earning under £25k this year, compared to almost half of these respondents last year.

IT contractors haven't had such a good year in the pay stakes, with close to half (43 per cent) earning less than £40k this year, and less than fifth (17 per cent) laying their hands on in excess of £70,001. In 2008 more than a third (35 per cent) reported taking home £70,001+.

silicon.com surveyed 415 people for its Skills Survey between June and November 2009.