According to a new report from career site Dice, average salaries for technology professionals climbed by 5.3% to $85,619 last year, up from $81,327 in 2011, marking the largest salary jump in more than a decade.
Entry level talent (two years or less experience) waited three years to see an increase in average annual pay – and the market made up for the stagnancy with an 8% year-over-year increase to $46,315. At the other end of the spectrum, average salaries for technology professionals with at least 15 years of experience topped six-figures for the first time, growing 4% to $103,012.
“Employers are recognising and adjusting to the reality of a tight market,” said Scot Melland, CEO, Dice Holdings, in a statement. “The fact is you either pay to recruit or pay to retain and, these days, at least for technology teams, companies are doing both.”
Tech bonuses were slightly more frequent – 33% of respondents got one in 2012 compared to 32% in 2011 – but slightly less lucrative at an average of $8,636 (down from $8,769).
“In the early stages of the recovery, companies were staying flexible by using performance pay to reward their top performers,” Melland said. “Now, companies are writing the cheques that will stick. With a 3.8% tech unemployment rate, no one wants to lose talent.”
Silicon Valley remains the only market where tech professionals average six-figure salaries ($101,278).
Across the U.S., big data skills are in demand, as evidenced by $100,000-plus salaries for tech pros who use Hadoop, NoSQL and MongoDB. By comparison, average salaries associated with cloud and virtualisation are just under $90,000 and mobile salaries are closer to $80,000, Dice reported.
“We’ve heard it’s a fad, heard it’s hyped and heard it’s fleeting, yet it’s clear that data professionals are in demand and well paid,” said Alice Hill, Managing Director, Dice.com. “Tech professionals who analyse large data streams and strategically impact the overall business goals of a firm have an opportunity to write their own ticket.
“The message to employers? If you have a talented data team, hold on tight or learn the consequences of a lift-out.”
Looking ahead to the current year, 64% of tech professionals are confident that they could find a favourable new job in 2013.
Dice surveyed 15,049 employed tech professionals between September 24 and November 16, 2012, for its annual Salary Survey.
