• Project Manager - IT Relocation...
• SAS Analyst
• CHANNEL ACCOUNT MANAGER $ 210K...
• Technical Lead
• Security Engineer

ACS Remuneration Survey

ACS staff, Information Age

26/07/2000 17:10:37

IT professionals continued to achieve average salary increases well above those recorded in other sectors of the Australian economy during 1999-2000, according to the results of the 2000 Australian Computer Society (ACS) Remuneration Survey Report.

The report, released in June, showed that IT salaries rose an average 5.1 per cent during the 12 months to April 2000, well above the 3.6 per cent increase in Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics during the 12 months to February. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose by 2.8 per cent.

Conducted on behalf of the ACS by the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia, the survey questioned 2,000 ACS Members employed across all industries and job functions.

Private Sector Leads the Way According to the survey, the strong growth was fuelled by IT professionals working in the private sector, who earned average increases of 6 per cent, compared to the 3.6 per cent increases gained by those employed in the public sector.

"IT professionals in the private sector continue to command salary increases well above those experienced in other industries," said ACS President John Ridge, attributing the wage rises to factors such as Y2K, the growth of e-commerce and the demand for Internet and networking skills." The survey revealed that IT professionals in the private sector earned an average total package of $103,460, compared to an average total package of $95,279 across all sectors.

The most lucrative positions within the private sector were in sales and marketing, with management roles also attracting substantial rewards.

JOB FUNCTION AVERAGE PACKAGE

Sales & Marketing $164,263

General Management $142,125

IT Management $110,462

Project Management $103,486

Consulting $102,453

Systems Management $84,559

Database Administrator $84,558

Project Leader $79,723

Research & Teaching $79,723

Research & Development $78,019

Analysis & Testing $72,076

Programmer/Analyst $65,436

LAN Manager $62,354

Teaching/Training only $61,408

Computer Support $61,105

Education Salaries Lag Rest of Industry

By contrast, the average total package of IT professionals working in the education sector was a full $30,000 below the private sector figure at $73,282, and education salaries increased by just 2.4 per cent, well below CPI and AWE figures.

Mr Ridge said these results highlighted the Society's concerns about the education sector's ability to attract and retain experienced and qualified professionals.

"One of the things that has come out of the IT skills crisis is the need for our universities to produce the best students possible - people equipped with the knowledge, technical and social skills to move straight into the vacant positions within industry and commerce," he said.

"To achieve this, we need the best possible educators and academics to shape our IT students, but these figures show we aren't prepared to pay the money that will attract them into the universities. Recent funding cuts mean we are demanding more of our academics while paying them considerably less than the industry average.

"If this trend is allowed to continue, we could eventually see our young people forced to study overseas in order to obtain recognised qualifications," he said.

Career Earnings

The 2000 ACS Remuneration Survey also showed the rate at which increases were achieved was clearly influenced by experience and job function.

- See graph at http://www2.idg.com.au/Infoage/graphics/acs_picture_one.gif Commencing salaries were generally around $40,000 per annum, and, consistent with previous survey results, average IT industry incomes would be achieved after eight to ten years.

Non-core benefits such as performance bonuses and motor vehicles clearly become more common with experience and progression to higher level positions.

"The IT industry continues to offer significant enticements to people wanting an exciting and challenging career that also attracts considerable financial rewards," said Mr Ridge.

"System upgrades required to meet the requirements of the new tax system, the growth of the Internet and its expansion into the delivery of entertainment, education, consumer and information services will continue to fuel demand for IT skills throughout 2000.

"As a result, we would anticipate that IT salaries will continue to rise at similar levels over the coming 12 months," he said.

Big Business Versus SMEs - Do Salaries Differ?

This is a difficult question to answer because jobs differ between businesses, and large organisations will naturally have greater numbers of middle and senior level IT professionals attracting higher salaries.

What can be done, however, is to look at positions between organisations based on the responsibility levels used in the survey report, enabling a greater match between jobs and allowing more valid comparisons to be made.

The chart at http://www2.idg.com.au/Infoage/graphics/acs_picture_two.gif shows average base salaries based on responsibility levels and financial turnover for private sector organisations.

- see chart at http://www2.idg.com.au/Infoage/graphics/acs_picture_two.gif These results indicate that large private sector companies offer only slightly higher salaries for most IT positions than smaller companies, which underlines the importance of assessing positions on their content. The survey demonstrate that it's not necessarily true that small IT firms are unable or unwilling to match the salaries paid by large companies.

Industry Breakdown

The greater number of IT professionals are employed in the consulting area, at around 17 per cent. It is clear however, that IT professionals exist in all industries, reflecting the reliance on computing solutions across virtually all facets of working life.

-see graph at http://www2.idg.com.au/Infoage/graphics/acs_picture_three.gif IT professionals are most likely to be employed in organisations with more than 500 employees, as illustrated in chart available at: http://www2.idg.com.au/Infoage/graphics/acs_picture_four.gif