The following article by Jennifer Forshew, discusses pay rising as demand for skilled staff grows. Read Ambition Technology’s Managing Director, Andy Cross’s comments below.

PROFESSIONALS with skills such as Silverlight, MVC or SharePoint are highly sought after, with experienced developer salaries peaking 10 to 20 per cent above the industry norm.

The latest Ambition Technology Market Trends report for Quarter Three, released today, found more experienced developer salaries had jumped above the average at about $120,000 to $135,000.

SAP continued to perform strongly, with second-quarter software revenue up 35 per cent, the report said.

It found technical or functional ERP consultants with three to five years’ experience could earn up to $140,000 in salary or up to $1200 a day on shorter contracts.

Ambition Technology managing director Andrew Cross said that in the Microsoft space, a more generic skilled individual trading only on their core .NET skills would not be as valued as those with Silverlight, MVC or SharePoint skills.

“SharePoint continues to drive demand across large enterprise users, and finding good SharePoint developers is a challenge,” he said.

“It is a heavily contract-driven segment because these guys know they are in such demand they are able to move from client to client.”

The study found there was continued demand for mobile application developers and those who could code in rapid application development languages such as Ruby on Rails.

It said business analysts were earning between $100,000 and $110,000 a year, while most applicants with five years-plus experience were seeking $120,000 and above.

The report found a shortage of infrastructure project managers at the $650 to $700 a day level and a generic shortage of master data managers across NSW.

Security professionals were in demand from systems, network and data through to chief security officers who could get salaries close to $180,000.

Mr Cross said areas where salaries were competitive and staff in short supply were storage, security and cloud/virtualisation.

Hays IT Australia and New Zealand director Peter Noblet said developer salaries were not climbing across the board, but only in some skills. “Those skill sets are probably in the Microsoft .NET space,” he said.

“More and more we are seeing skills in demand in the sort of associated areas like SharePoint, knowledge management and information management areas.”

Other hotspots were SAP, telecommunications, business analysis and virtualisation.

“Where we are seeing a lot of activity over the past few months is the telecoms space, and one of the key trends is the willingness of organisations to look at either relocating people from overseas or trying to attract ex-pat Australians back to work here.”

Michael Page managing director Simon Meyer said competition had pushed up salaries for key skills.

“We have had high-calibre project managers at final stages within professional services and they have been gazumped by 20 or 30 per cent out of the major financial institutions in Australia that are desperate to acquire that particular resource skill set because they have a mission-critical project that just has to be delivered.”

He said the demand for business-facing technology professionals was particularly high, especially for project managers and business analysts.

Mr Meyer said the flow of opportunities for CIOs and IT directors was also picking up.

A second report, released today by Candle, shows that the number of skilled professionals in the IT sector in the next five years will grow by 3700, however there will be a continued shortfall of 1200.

The Candle Skills Index uses analysis by KPMG Econtech based on Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations data.

The index for computing professionals is in the balanced range at 100.5, and shows a shortage of about 1100 staff.

Candle executive general manager Linda Trevor said a “brain drain” trend was emerging as Australian employers favoured contract rather than permanent hiring or put employment decisions on hold.

The data found the shortfall could be further exacerbated as a result of the global move to shift IT functions overseas, primarily to the Asia-Pacific, and the job opportunities that presented themselves for Australian professionals.

The article can also be viewed here http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/pay-rising-as-demand-for-skilled-staff-grows/story-e6frgakx-1226147361789

Last year was a very difficult time for the global job market. Most people were struggling to find jobs, maintain their current job, and earn a decent salary. Times were tough and most of us didn’t have many options so we settled for anything we could get.

This year however, we have experienced quite the opposite. As the Australian economy prospers, technology employees are starting to ask for an increase in their salary. There is a huge skill shortage amongst technology employees, which makes it easier for people with the right skill set to demand a larger amount of money. In turn, companies are being forced to pay higher rates to people with these valued skills. Are these people actually worth what they are asking for, or are the companies paying extra because these are the best options they can find? Are companies now in the reverse role and having to settle because there are such limited options?

Pay rises are not only happening in Australia, but also the USA. Google just released a statement saying they would give a 10% pay rise to all of their employees next year. The reason behind this decision was to try and entice their employees to stay with the company as opposed to being poached by other competitors such as Facebook. Google is choosing to increase pay rates to their employees because they value their skills and want them to stay onboard.

Is there a difference between the pay rises we are seeing in Australia compared to the pay rises companies like Google are implementing? Is Australia being forced to give pay increases because there is a lack in numbers of skilled workers? Are we able to choose what kind of pay we are giving, or are we being forced to choose between quality and quantity?

Having been in the recruitment industry for some time, the top three drivers for candidates looking to the market in order of importance have generally always been;

1) Career progression and professional development opportunities
2) The right culture fit/stability of an organisation and
3) A salary increase.

Is this still the case or are you now chasing short term wins?

Sydney was home to all five of the lowest unemployment regions in Australia last year, with half of the city experiencing a jobless rate of 3.5 per cent or less. Still, within the IT industry we saw a number of projects put on hold. Subsequently contracts were ended and redundancies made. This coupled with increased interest rates and the cost of living, who could blame employees for wanting for higher wages!

We are in a tight labour market, and yes employers will be forced to offer greater incentives to attract and retain the best talent. Asking for unrealistic and unsustainable rate/base salary expectations, in my experience and opinion, is only offering a golden hand cuff. Yes you should be recognised and rewarded for the value add you bring to an organisation, but what to you is realistic?

Are you chasing money or career opportunity?

As a specialist in IT infrastructure recruitment, we have taken some time to review the salaries and rates within this sector in the year so far.

The IT industry was one of the strongest sectors during the GFC and has also been one of the quickest to regain momentum during the recovery. This has led to quicker than expected competition for IT resources, with pressure growing on both salaries and contract rates.

Some key points to note are:

• Competition is rife at more junior levels as company’s look to gain value for money.
• Contract rates have accelerated at a faster pace than permanent salaries.
• High demand for specialist skill sets in storage, security, virtualization and cloud computing.
• Management salaries experiencing a slower increase as companies focus on technical resources.
• Very high demand for project staff with a number of delayed IT investments now under way.
• High demand for IT infrastructure transition, consolidation and integration skills.
• IT service providers driving demand for infrastructure architects, pre-sales and delivery professionals.

The figures are to be used as a guide only, these figures have been taken from placements that we have made, candidates we have on our database and jobs that we have recruited for this year. The correlation between years experience and salary is based on the skill level, performance and ability of individuals and is not necessarily a direct reflection of the number of year’s experience.

If you would like a more tailored indication of salary and rate information specific to your business, one of our Infrastructure specialists would be happy to arrange a meeting to discuss.

Questions or comments can be directed to our Blog site or directly by email to Rory Herity directly at rory.herity@ambition.com.au

One of the most common questions being  asked right now is “are salaries and contract rates going up in line with the  increase in demand for IT resources?”  My initial reaction is a resounding, ‘yes’,  however looking a little deeper there are some interesting points of note starting to occur across the Technology Industry.

Using the relatively widespread salary benchmark reports that pop up on the internet from a variety of sources, I was surprised at how low some of the average salaries were being reported.  They certainly didn’t match up with what I was seeing day-to-day but  with any statistical data you cannot read too much in to it without carefully examining the small print i.e. Scope and reach of the survey and the number and class of respondents.

So digging a little deeper I used a matrix of tools to see if there really was any truth to the rate changes being reported. Using a number of major job boards  and cross referencing our own candidate database information and job placement data I was able to refine my findings. Finally to add a further layer of reference I spoke to other IT recruiters and a number of my current clients.

The result – most of the online reports appear to be lacking a ‘real world’ authenticity to them and are probably out of line by approximately 10%-20%. Maybe these reports are not targeted around the more highly skilled professionals working in some of the larger enterprises because in those workplaces  salaries certainly tend to be higher.

Whatever the reason for the discrepancies,  I have come to the conclusion that these reports are not an accurate reflection of the salaries being paid in the current market. What scares me most about this is that a significant number of  Employers use these tools to base their salary benchmarking upon. That then leaves little room for evaluating different skill levels of employees, their education, experience,  or potentialvalue to the business.

Let’s face it the market is a competitive place and you have to consider lots of different scenarios when deciding just where to place your salary bandings.

My advice to employers is to not to rely on salary reports alone, despite how accurate the claim to be, look at the salaries on offer on job boards, ask your recruitment partners to do a benchmarking exercise and probably the one of the easiest ways is to analyse the expectations of candidates currently on the market- in most cases the proof certainly is in the pudding.

With the release of the Rudd government’s budget this week, speculation is that employment growth will strengthen from 1% to around 3.5% in 2010. Realistically this means that unemployment rates will drop, demand for talent will increase and the recruitment market is likely to take a turn towards a severe skill shortage not experienced for quite some time. With this in mind what are you, the employer, doing to avoid attrition rates creeping up and losing your key talent to competitors?

With demand increasing dramatically this year within the Banking and Financial services space for Project Managers and Business Analysts, a skill shortage of experienced, competent and skilled candidates is a reality. In a bid to push through various projects and programmes of work delayed due to the GFC, many organisations within financial services now have multiple requirements ranging across a high number of projects. Some organisations are now offering rates and salaries way above market rates in an attempt to attract the best talent in the market, and to tempt those key performers away from their current employers.

In this market, it is organisations with the foresight to reward their key staff not only financially, but who put in place structures to guarantee growth and development that will avoid the significant rise in attrition rates that have been forecasted for 2010. CIOs of many organisations now feel the need to perform attrition analysis and to implement processes to retain their star performers with intelligent retention strategies. The key to retaining talent this year will relate not only to financial recognition but more importantly, ensuring your employees are kept engaged, challenged and emotionally rewarded. Regular updates and feedback will also ensure that any discontent is recognised immediately and therefore can be addressed in time to make the required changes.

Employers – Ask what more can I do for you!!!

3hats Blog: Budget impact on Recruitment