I recently came across the Information Week “Annual U.S. IT Salary Survey”, originally published November, 2016. This survey identified the Top 10 Best Paying IT Staff Jobs, and the Top 10 Best Paying IT Leadership Jobs. Also revealed was some very interesting data regarding gender demographics, corporate perks, job satisfaction and training valued.
In case you are wondering, this survey was not just aimed at large scale enterprises. Of the respondents, 8% worked for companies with revenue less than $1 million / year, 19% worked for companies with revenue between $1 million – $10 million / year, and 15% worked for companies with revenue between $10 million to $50 million. That represents 42% of the respondents, which translates well into the VAR / MSP community.
| 10 Best-Paying IT Staff Jobs | 10 Best-Paying IT Leadership Jobs | ||
| Title/Role | 2016 median comp | Title/Role | 2016 median comp |
| Architect | $137,000 | Chief Information Officer | $165,000 |
| Software Engineer | $120,000 | Vice President | $151,000 |
| Systems Architect | $119,000 | Chief Technology Officer | $142,000 |
| Project Leader | $108,000 | Chief Security Officer | $137,500 |
| Security Professional | $103,000 | IT Director | 126,000 |
| Software Developer | $101,000 | Senior IT Manager | $125,750 |
| Database Administrator | $100,000 | IT Program Manager | $123,000 |
| Business Analyst | $88,000 | IT Project Manager | $104,500 |
| Programmer Analyst | $85,500 | IT Manager | $104,000 |
| Systems Analyst | $85,000 | IT Supervisor | $93,000 |
Here are a few items that jumped out as I read the survey:
- The gender gap is still huge in the IT profession. Only 15% of the respondents were female.
- The #3 best paying job for IT staff members was a Systems Architect, and the #5 best paying job was a Security Specialist. That surprised us, and VAR Staffing predicts the Security Specialist job will rise in compensation in 2017!
- But is IT Intellectually Challenging? Only 35% of IT Staff and 40% of Management Staff indicated they were being intellectually challenged to a high degree! (VAR Staffing wonders if the lack of intellectual stimulation for staff members is due potentially to repetitive job duties with limited new technical growth, and with IT Management not feeling aligned with strategic business goals of a company).
If you would like to read more regarding the top paying IT jobs, and how staff and management feel about training, critical business skills, benefit perks, and more, download the full survey results.
VAR Staffing’s sole focus is enabling the VAR / MSP community hire the right technical talent for the right job. Increasing your staff? We welcome the opportunity to discuss our talent acquisition services. Call us at 972-996-0966.
