IT professionals are among the best paid in the country as demand for their technological prowess continues to grow.
The latest salary guide from recruitment firm Hays shows technologists regularly take home more than the average Australian.
Managing Director of Hays ANZ, Nick Deligiannis, said demand for technology experts was “exponential”.
“Cloud-based specialists, UX/UI, cyber security – in those areas there’s a real shortage in good talent and skills,” he said.
“It’s a pretty high demand field.”
And if you can supply those skills, businesses will compensate you handsomely.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the average weekly earnings for a full-time employee in Australia is $1,711 – or around $92,000 a year.
But beyond helpdesk and testing roles, IT professionals can expect to earn an above-average wage in almost every city in Australia.
At the low end are junior .Net/Java engineers who can be looking at an average salary of $85,000 per year in Tasmania up to $100,000 in Sydney and Canberra.
Full stack, integration, and automation developers earn an average of $130,000 in Sydney while senior front-end developers can take in around $140,000.
Because of the ongoing migration to cloud platforms, engineers in this space are well-remunerated across the country with much smaller deviations in average wages between smaller capital cities like Adelaide and Perth compared to Melbourne and Sydney.
Cloud architects are naturally the most well-compensated in this specialism with reported earnings up to $200,000 in all major capital cities.
In cyber security, six-figure salaries once again dominate the Hays guide. Professional hackers, or penetration testers, can get take home around $150,000 in Melbourne, Sydney, and Canberra, while identity and access management (IDAM) engineers are looking at $140,000.
Is it time for a pay rise?
While it is a seller’s market, IT professionals have signalled their itchy feet with 76 per cent of technologists surveyed by Hays saying they were either looking for a new job or plan to look in the next 12 months.
The largest pain points for those wanting to leave were uncompetitive salaries, poor management and workplace culture, and a lack of challenge in their current role.
Despite pay being an important aspect of any job, less than half of employers said they will increase salaries by up to three per cent in their next review.
Yet nearly 70 per cent of tech professionals say they want at least a three per cent pay rise.
It’s a gap that Deligiannis said can be breached by preparing for your next pay review with the right evidence to show how you should be remunerated.
“Once you’ve got that information you can go to your employer and say, ‘I’m here, the market is here, and there’s the gap’,” he told Information Age.
“You also want to describe the skills you’ve acquired in the last 12 months and how you have gone above and beyond in the last six months.”
When it comes to your pay review, make sure you can articulate how your skills have improved and what impact that will have on your employer.
But also keep in mind that your skillset is one of the most valuable in the country and recruiters are actively scouting talent through networks and professional organisations.
“Finding people in technology is a big struggle,” Deligiannis said.
“Recruiters are using different and channels, connecting through social media, and attending specialist groups to build networks and grab the best IT staff.”
