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IT Median Salaries
The compensation study (160 plus pages in PDF or WORD and EXCEL with the data) can be ordered here.
If you do not want to purchase the full salary study, you can get just the data for a particular city for a fraction of the cost of the full study. Just click here to see all the cities covered or select your city for the order page.
There is a comparative salary survey for the years of 1999 through 2009. That version of the salary survey can be found at COMPARATIVE YEAR.
CIO - CTO - CSO News
It Will Get Harder to Terminate Employees if New Legislation Passes
The number of IT jobs in the U.S. counted by the National Association of Computer Consultant 
Businesses declined in each of the last four
months of 2008. The NACCB, which uses data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, said its tally of IT employment fell by
63,000 jobs from August to December - a
reduction of nearly 2%.
As the economic news continues to get bleaker, budget and staffing cuts are a fact of life for many IT departments - resulting in postponed purchases, delayed projects, hiring freezes and layoffs. IT investments need to be targeted and focused on the core business and its bottom line.
The situation poses difficult leadership challenges for CIOs. CIOs need to focus on key IT initiatives so they can proceed as planned, because of a desire by many business executives to rely even more heavily on technology to help reduce corporate costs and boost revenues.
The recession is not good for IT per se, but CIO do have an opportunity to clean up the processes at facilities where things maybe were not as efficient as they could be.
In addition to the decline of IT jobs, another issue that has affected this industry and other businesses such as those centered on security like life insurance, among others. But in general, this economic problem is unpleasant for the whole of the business community.
Freefall in Job Market -- Is It Over Yet?
Since last November, IT employment has declined by nearly 250,000 jobs, or 6 percent, after peaking that month at 4.058 million jobs. However, only 1,100 jobs were lost in August, or a .03 percent decline, according to the TechServe Alliance, an Alexandria, Va.-based industry group that conducts an ongoing analysis of IT occupation data compiled by U.S.
The U.S. Commerce Department reported Thursday that the U.S. economy grew by a 3.5 percent annual rate in the last quarter.
But IT employment is in a trough and so is the pay, according to Janco Associates a Park City UT based research group that studies IT compensation. (see IT Salary Survey). Janco said in July that said "... in 2009 compensation for IT professionals has been cut by the largest amount in nearly two decades. For example, the government index of real average weekly earnings down 1.9 percent since its high point last December. And the average workweek - now down to 33 hours - is the shortest on modern record."
Jobs board Dice.com reported 53,400 jobs posted Thursday, compared with 75,600 in November. Janco not predicting a fast recovery. In addition, IT jobs continue to move overseas. Janco predicts that recovery will not happen in IT until eary in 2011.
- more infoStimulus Packages Misses Tech Industry
Tech Industry Threatens 120,000 Job Loss if R&D Tax Credit Not Extended
Tax reform organizations have called the R&D tax credit corporate welfare, and want Congress to let the credit lapse and expire. IT salaries would fall dramatically if that were to happen. It is estimated that over 120,000 jobs would be lost it the R&D tax credit is not extended.
Since 1981 when the credit first began, it has consistently been extended at a cost to the United States of about $7 billion a year. The tax credit varies between 14 to 20 percent of R&D spending.
In a sensitive political environment with unemployment hovering over 10 percent in many parts of the country, changes to health care, and regulatory reform of the financial and banking systems, the idea of more job loss is something most politicians want to avoid.
Industry wants the tax credit increased to the 20 percent of spending on R&D costs. Hard to know where Congress is going to go with this one, but combine the threat of more job loss and the argument that companies will move R&D overseas to countries that extend competitive credit, and it is not difficult to imagine the Obama administration and Congress extending the credit.
"We're talking about 120,000 jobs -- if anything, this is citizen welfare ... or employee welfare," said the senior director of policy for TechAmerica. "These are not 120,000 sweep-the-floor jobs. These are highly compensated, well-educated U.S. employees."
Could Pay Czar Impact IT Salaries
The Washington pay czar who's ordered steep pay cuts for executives at bailed-out firms could have practically unlimited power to regulate compensation at any company that gets federal funding, lawyers say -- even if his legal authority is sketchy.
The move raises questions about whether the mandate will be limited to the seven firms the pay czar is currently targeting -- and whether it could trickle down to smaller companies.
Under authority granted by Congress through legislation passed in February, the pay czar has decided to order cuts for the top 25 earners at the firms that received the most aid from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package. He's looking to cut salaries by 90 percent from last year's levels, and to cut total pay by half.
The fact that Washington is again meddling with contracts -- following a stalled attempt by Congress in March to halt AIG bonuses -- has revived charges that the federal government is overstepping its bounds. Lawyers say Feinberg could be trampling on legally binding agreements.
Since these companies owe money to the federal government, that gives the Obama administration political leverage -- to exercise its ownership stake, or to embarrass the executives in the press, or to target the companies in any number of other ways.
The move by the Obama administration is for now limited to the seven top bailed-out companies and will not touch firms like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase, which repaid the government.
But President Obama announced plans to increase lending to small businesses and to give them greater access to the rescue fund, leaving some to question whether the pay czar might have authority to dictate executive pay at those firms as well.
- more infoIT Budgets Will Not Recover in 2010 According to Janco
Janco predicts that IT budgets will not recover in 2010 as predicted by some industry analysts. Rather, Janco sees reduced IT budgets in 2010 and recovery only occurring in 2011 when budgets increases will be back to the 2004 levels.
This is based on data from the 2010 budgeting processes that are underway in most enterprises. CIOs have been directed to continue to reduce IT expenses from the current spending levels. In addition they have been directed to eliminate any new initiatives that have not been approved at the highest levels of management and eliminate any new positions that do not support the approved initiatives.
Janco will release more of it findings when it completes its 2010 IT Salary Survey.
- more infoSick days versus a free day off - a risky career move
Employers are getting serious about sick days - 15 percent say
they fired an employee over a bad or illegitimate excuse, including 17 percent
who drove by a worker's house or apartment. At the same time about 12 percent of
workers say they missed work to avoid project work or a dreaded meeting they did
not want to attend, while 32 percent said they just "did not feel like going to
work that day."
Excuses that workers give for missing work occasionally are outrageous and maybe grounds for termination. Including:
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I think my cat has a head ache.
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I got sunburned at a nude beach and can't wear clothes.
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I got caught selling an alligator.
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I'm convinced my spouse is having an affair and I'm staying home to catch them.
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I have a headache from eating hot peppers.
The recession has everyone a little more in need of mental health days than in years past. A new survey says employers and workers are both admitting they understand what is going on, though some of the excuses employers claim they have heard are far-fetched.
Companies understand that you need a day or two off every now and
then - but be careful what you say and how you handle it.
"Longer hours and heavier workloads are common in the current economic climate, and employers are becoming more flexible with their time-off policies," said a vice president of human resources at CareerBuilder, in a news release. "Sixty-three percent of companies we surveyed said they let their team members use sick days for mental health days. If you need time to recharge, your best bet is to be honest with your manager."
One-third of 4,700 workers admit they have called in sick once this year when they were just fine, says the recent CareerBuilder report. In addition, nearly a third of 3,100 companies say they believe fake sick days being taken by employees are due to on-the-job burnout and stress.
That may be comforting for many workers, but be sure you understand your company's attendance and sick day policies as well as the culture you work in before you go making up stories. The last thing you need is to be caught up in a lie that could get you axed.
Companies have sick days because they want you to be productive and keep your germs away from affecting too many of your co-workers. They expect a certain amount of absenteeism, especially during flu and cold seasons. However, there are workers who come to work when they are actually sick or have a medical condition. This is known as something called "presenteeism" - an issue that is estimated to cost companies some $150 billion a year.
Some jobs are too small to key in the US
The nonprofit company Samasource, has built a business around the idea that there are some projects too small to make sense for American workers to do, yet perfect in scale and scope for refugees and others in the Third World. For example, one their client's, a solar panels repairman, engaged the company to get workers to scour satellite photos of American cities for houses with solar set-ups in order to generate potential sales leads.
Workers stuck
in the world's largest refugee camp are being given a chance to wield a mouse
and keyboard as tools for digging their way out of poverty, and in the process,
are helping a series of small American companies looking to be more profitable.
The workers, many of whom have been in the refugee camp in Kenya for years, are toiling at new jobs--in which they do short, simple projects over the Internet--provided to them by an innovative San Francisco nonprofit serving as an intermediary between companies needing an efficient way to get small tasks done and groups of educated but displaced people with few other employment prospects.
Summary Results and Changes in Demand for IT Jobs 2009
IT Median Salaries January 2008 vs. June 2009
The compensation study (over 160 pages in PDF or WORD and EXCEL with the data) can be ordered here.
There is a comparative salary survey for the years of 1996 through 2009. That version of the salary survey can be found at COMPARATIVE YEAR.
Breaking the Immigration Stalemate
(Brookings) The Obama administration has committed itself to immigration reform. Yet despite all the shortcomings of current policy - threats to the rule of law, exploitation of vulnerable newcomers, real and perceived competition with Americans for jobs and public resources - reasonable compromise on immigration will be exceedingly difficult. The divide between elite and public opinion on this issue remains deep and wide. It is a critical factor in the lack of trust that pervades today's political culture.
Reorient Immigrant Admissions Criteria
Reorient the nation's immigrant admissions criteria to better serve Americans and our economic goals. Family unification should remain a bedrock principle of U.S. immigration policy, but we believe that "family" must be narrowed to mean nuclear family members. We must also recognize that in today's increasingly competitive and technology-intensive global economy, educated workers with the knowledge and skills to innovate are critical. Therefore, we recommend increasing skilled visas and replacing per-country limits on skilled visas with a single overall limit. At the same time, we recommend holding constant, at least for the present, the overall number of permanent legal residents admitted annually.
Rationalize Temporary Worker Programs
The nation's array of temporary work-based visas is highly adaptive and responsive to employer needs, but it lacks overall coherence and is generally beyond public scrutiny. We recommend increased oversight of temporary worker programs and replacing temporary visas with non-renewable, five-year provisional visas that do not tie workers to a single employer. Provisional visa holders should have the option of achieving permanent status.
Establish an Independent Standing Commission on Immigration
Create of an independent Standing Commission on Immigration to provide the deliberative forum that immigration policy has lacked. Bipartisan commissioners would be appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate for staggered terms of at least seven years. The Commission would be supported by a permanent professional staff, issue reports and studies on many aspects of immigration policy, and biennially recommend overall visa category ceilings for congressional review and action.
Promote the Assimilation and
Integration of New Americans
Create an Office of New Americans (ONA) within the Executive Office of the President to oversee and coordinate public/private sector efforts to integrate and assimilate immigrants into American society. ONA should encourage effective methods for teaching English, involving parents in their children's education, and incorporating core civic principles and U.S. history in naturalization preparation.
Engage Mexico
Mexico is the largest contributor to current U.S. immigration. The U.S. shares a lengthy border with Mexico as well as many common concerns. The United States should create or invigorate institutions for regional cooperation and investment, bolster interdiction of illegal arms and drugs, support security and judicial reform in Mexico, and cooperate closely on law enforcement and a range of other border issues, including immigration.
- more infoGovernment to control salaries
It may be only the small toe in the compensation arena, however with many top IT execurivies and CIOs who are paid a percentage of what their bosses get this could impact IT compensation in the long run.
The Obama administration's pay czar is planning to clamp down on compensation at firms receiving large sums of government aid by cutting annual cash salaries for many of the top employees under his authority, according to people familiar with the matter.
Instead of awarding large cash salaries, Kenneth Feinberg is planning to shift a chunk of an employee's annual salary into stock that cannot be accessed for several years, these people said. Such a move, the most intrusive yet into corporate compensation, would mark the government's first effort to curb the take-home pay of everyone from auto executives to financial traders.
Feinberg is expected to issue by mid-October his determination on compensation packages for 175 of the most-highly compensated executives and employees at the seven firms he oversees. The companies are: American International Group Inc., Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., General Motors Co., GMAC Financial Services Inc., Chrysler LLC and Chrysler Financial.
The move will further reshape pay at those firms and could complicate efforts by some of those seven companies to attract top executives and employees.
- more infoDivdersity Tips for CIOs
Are IT workers too busy fixing broken application to participate in diversity programs? CIO cannot dismiss this as a second priority. Diversity is important, regardless of how busy you the IT Staff.
The following tips CIOs on how to make diversity part of their IT organizational culture:
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Hold quarterly "diversity cafes" -- one-hour sessions with senior managers -- to discuss topics such as supplier diversity or marketing to customer niches.
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Encourage mentor relationships -- including ones where the mentor and mentee come from different departments or lines of business -- to nurture talented staffers and expose them to new areas.
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Support affinity groups for people who share the same background, but open the meetings to employees with different backgrounds. For example, have men who attend the Women in Technology group meetings.
Microsoft Executive Salaries Fall
(ComputerWorld) - Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer received a 5.5% decrease in his overall compensation last year as the company suffered its first-ever drop in overall revenue, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.
IT Job Descriptions
Salary
Data
The documents also reveal that Microsoft paid Stephen Elop, who heads Microsoft's business division, a hefty $4.1 million in relocation expenses. Elop joined the company in January 2008 moving from Silicon Valley to the Seattle area.
Ballmer and three of the other executives named in the report CFO Chris Liddell, COO Kevin Turner and Entertainment and Devices Division head Robbie Bach also saw their 2009 overall compensation decrease.
Elop was the only one of the five executive's listed who saw his compensation rise in fiscal year 2009. Elop's comparable figure for fiscal year 2008, however, only reflects six month's salary as he joined the company half way through the fiscal year.
Overall, compensation for all Microsoft executives was down 29%.
Ballmer's base salary actually rose from $640,833 to $655,833, but his cash incentives payments were down $100,000 to $600,000 in 2009.
Ballmer since becoming CEO in January of 2000 has not taken any stock compensation. He already owns more than 400 million shares, which gives him ownership of 4.5% of the company.
Liddell's salary increased by $20,000 to $561,667, but his overall compensation dropped 26% from $4.7 million to $3.5 million. Turner's base salary rose $21,000 to $641,667, but his overall compensation dropped 37% from $8.6 million to $5.4 million. Bach's base salary also rose $21,000 to $641,667, but his overall compensation dropped 24% from $8.2 million to $6.2 million.
All the executives suffered their losses based on drops in the fair market value of their stock awards at the time they were granted. Turner was the lone exception as he also suffered a loss in his cash incentive payment of $47,981.
The number likely won't brighten in fiscal year 2010, which started July 1 for Microsoft. The company decided in January 2009 to eliminate merit-based salary increases for fiscal year 2010. The decision also includes freezing base salaries for executive officers at their 2009 levels for fiscal year 2010.
- more info