Tech Trends

Hiring and Salaries Projected to Increase in 2012 by Major Research Firms.

The newly published Robert Half 2012 Technology Salary Guide provides projected average starting salary ranges for more than 70 IT positions and features the five mid- and senior-level tech professionals that are highest in demand. Mobile media is the main impetus for the highest growth technology, as smartphone use and tablet adoption continues to grow.

Average starting salaries for 2012 are predicted to go up over 2011 levels across the board. The Senior Management increases range from 3.0% to 3.9%, Applications Development functions between 2.0% for technical writers and 9.1% for mobile applications developers.

The tech industry paid an annual average wage of $86,800 in 2010, 93 percent more than the average private sector wage of $45,000 according to CyberStates 2011.

RHT forecasts that tech firms top hiring priorities (and starting salary ranges) in 2012 will be:

1. Systems Engineers ($70,250 – $102,000) and Networking Engineers ($75,000 – $107,750)

2. Developers ($70,000 – $111,000 for Software Developers)

3. Quality Assurance Professionals and Business Analysts ($71,750 – $103,250)

4. Data Warehousing ($88,000 135,750) and Business Intelligence Professionals ($87,750 – $123,500)

5. Security Professionals ($85,000 – $143,500)

Premiums are the norm in higher demand / higher cost of living areas, New York garners the highest premium at 41%, and San Francisco comes in second at a 35.5% upward variance.

Project Managers, Software Engineers, Java Developers, Business Analysts, Systems Administrators, Database Administrators, and Programmers are particularly in demand. Over the downturn engineering managers, computer hardware engineers, database administrators, and aerospace engineers, all managed to keep unemployment below five percent.

The TechServe Alliance monthly index shows that more than 7,000 IT jobs were added in October, an increase of 87,000 positions from October 2010, or 2.2 percent. That’s about 4.1 million IT jobs. “According to both data and the anecdotal reports of my member companies, demand for IT professionals in key skill sets remains strong,” said TechServe Alliance CEO Mark Roberts. According to the Brookings Institute, rising computer and electronic exports to Asia fueled that industry’s 7 percent job growth in the third quarter in Silicon Valley.

The positions the TechServe Alliance reports to be in the highest demand are:

1. Project Managers

2. Software Engineers

3. Java Developers

4. Business Analysts

5. Systems Administrators

6. Database Administrators

7. Programmers

Reference / Further Reading recommended by Redfish Technology

Robert Half Technology 2012 Salary Guide

TechServe Alliance IT Employment Index

Cyberstates 2011 Key National Findings