Wages in IT: why do they grow?

Table of Contents

IT salaries: reasons of the growth
How much does it pay to be in IT?
Salaries in IT: what will happen in the future?

In the beginning of 2020, both the world economy and the global employment market took a nosedive. Covid-19, global recessions, the great resignation — they are still influencing the salaries among professionals from different sectors.

Despite the changes, the IT industry is experiencing growth in salaries and compensations. There are both pros and cons to this.

✅	❌
The salaries remain competitive and can nudge professionals to develop and seek knowledge	High salaries across the industry can prompt high turnover rate — constant job hunting is a norm
The industry remains attractive for the new professionals	High salaries are difficult to deal with for small businesses and startups
There is never a lack of professional resources	The higher the salaries, the higher the expectations of the applicants

What are the reasons for the growth?

IT salaries: reasons of the growth

The industry is constantly changing

There are about 700 programming languages. This number is constantly growing and the industry and the demand patterns are changing. These changes are prompting the tech specialist to perfect their knowledge or even learn new programming languages almost non-stop.

It takes about 3-6 months to learn the basics of coding if the developer is self-taught. The degree in the field (which is more sought-after by the recruiters and HR professionals) will take up to 4 years. Perfecting the craft of coding is an endless process with constant reading, courses, videos, and research.

The ever-changing nature of the industry makes IT jobs demanding and tough to follow. Thus, the compensation for keeping up with the growing demands is increasing.

The industry needs more and more experienced professionals

The more professionals, the better the development

There are an estimated 215 million companies worldwide. If they want to be successful, they need:

A user-friendly website
A CRM system
A set-up logistics tracking system
A cybersecurity network
Various accounting systems and so on

Apart from having to maintain the systems already in place, businesses need to develop their own software, often to be sold. This creates a huge demand for more experienced IT professionals across all industries. As a result, the pros in the field have their pick of vacancies, which creates the need to provide competitive offers.

The industry requires multitasking

One skill is never enough. In the modern world, being a good Java developer is not enough. A professional should at least have:

Proficient English skills
Basic knowledge in QA
Basic knowledge in hardware
Multiple certificates to prove their expertise
The possibility to develop non-stop, etc.

The need to multitask and have knowledge not only in their own field, but in the industry as a whole, makes tech specialists spend a lot of time and effort on becoming real pros who want their efforts to be recognized and compensated accordingly.

How much does it pay to be in IT?

According to Coursera, American IT specialists’ salaries vary according to their position.

A product support specialist makes about $57,750, a desktop support analyst: $62,750, a systems administrator can make up to $90,000, and a database administrator $107,750. The most lucrative positions are network/cloud architects: $153,750 and information systems security managers: $157,250.

On average, software developers make:

In the Netherlands — $54,025
In Germany — $60,162
In the UK — $68,462
In Israel — $76,791
In the USA — $110,638

Salaries in IT: what will happen in the future?

Due to the increasing need for automation, the time spent using advanced technological skills is expected to increase by 50% in the USA and by 41% in Europe. In the upcoming years the need for developers, QA engineers, UI/UX designers, and other tech professionals will increase along with the requirements for these positions.

We can expect the tendency for the growing salaries to keep up with the growing demand.

At the same time, the tech experts will become even more skilled, as new technologies arise. In this case, outstaffing will become a good and a more cost-effective alternative for businesses and companies that want to manage their expenses and optimize their costs.

Looking for the most skilled tech professionals? Message us at [email protected], and we’ll be happy to help you.

by Anna Shevtsova
on June 7, 2022.

Anna has 6-years overall experience in writing. She previously observed financial markets, conducting the daily research on the state of bonds and stocks. She is a keen reader with interest in historical literature and international cuisine. Her latest obsession — approaches to creating family-like teams in remote times.