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By Mel Duvall
A mid-year survey of IT salaries finds that technology professionals are falling victim to cost cutting at corporations as both overall compensation and demand for IT skills are down.
The survey by Janco Associates, which compared the overall compensation of IT professionals over the past 18 months, shows that technology professionals at mid-sized organizations have been hit the hardest with salaries down by as much as 10% to 15% in some fields.
"The current economic climate with its cost cutting mindsets, business closures, and extensive outsourcing has put such great pressure on the IT job market that overall pay has been impacted," said Victor Janulaitus, chief executive of Janco. Unfortunately, adds Janulaitus, there does not yet appear to be an end to the downside. Many baby boomers who had planned on retiring are hanging on to their jobs longer as a result of losses in their retirement investments, and a number of enterprises have instituted hiring freezes.
"I'd like to be able to tell you that there are 'green shoots' out there," Janulaitus said in reference to a comment made earlier this year by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, "but I'm just not hearing it."
Chief information officers have not escaped the cost cutting measures, with the average overall compensation for CIOs at large enterprises in June 2009 down 1.41% to $172,505, compared to $174,979 in January of 2007. Mid-sized company CIOs took a bigger hit, with average compensation in June 2009 of $162,937, down 5.12% from $171,755 in June 2007. Overall compensation includes such factors as vehicle allowances, stock options, bonuses, pension contributions, and health insurance.
All job categories at mid-sized enterprises saw a decrease in compensation between January 2007 and June 2009, while a couple of categories managed to eke out small gains at large enterprises. Vice presidents of administration at large enterprises, saw their salaries increase 1.41% from $130,442 in January 2007 to $132,275 in June 2009, and Vice presidents of technical services at large enterprises saw a 5.74% gain, from $140,728 to $148,808.
Janulaitus said many of the companies he has spoken with are waiting for firm confirmation that the recovery is in progress before they begin hiring again. In the meantime, they're willing to make do with overtime when necessary and hiring consultants.
Here are the salary comparisons, first for large enterprises, followed by mid-sized enterprises: 
Source: Janco Associates
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