IT pro? Some bad news (perhaps) for your pay packet

More than half (52 per cent) of employers in the Australian IT and telecommunications sectors will be giving their staff a pay rise of less than three per cent in their next review, according to recruitment firm Hays.

A survey of more than 3,000 organisations locally found eight per cent of businesses in the IT sector would not be raising salaries at all.

It's not all bad news for all tech and telco professionals however: the survey found 32 per cent will increase salaries by between three to six per cent while eight per cent will raise them by six per cent or more.

Compared with Hays' last survey the figures indicate that more professionals will receive a salary increase but fewer will receive a raise at the higher level of six per cent and above.

Against other sectors, the news is positive – on average across all industries, only 18 per cent of employers will give staff an increase of three to six per cent and just six per cent will up pay packets by six per cent or more.

Gimme more

IT workers in all sectors were found to have high expectations for a salary increase, with 19 per cent expecting to receive six per cent or more. Two-thirds said a salary increase is their 'number one career priority' this year. Close to half say they'll be asking their boss for one if they aren't given one.

Will they be successful? In the last year, 16 per cent of Australians asked for a pay rise but were declined – while 18 per cent asked and were successful.

Around half (53 per cent) of employers expect to increase the levels of permanent IT staff in the next 12 months, far exceeding the 14 per cent who say they’ll decrease the permanent IT workforce. Meanwhile 33 per cent expect to increase their use of temporary and contract IT staff, exceeding the 20 per cent who anticipate decreasing the number of staff in this category.

About a third (35 per cent) of organisations now employ temporary and contract staff in their IT department on a regular ongoing basis. Another 44 per cent employ them to work on special projects or workloads.

“The demand for constant, on-demand access to products and services drove significant change across all sectors and industries this past year, with subsequent projects increasing the need for talent in a market already suffering from skill shortages,” says Adam Shapley, senior regional director of Hays Information Technology.