Survey Points to Changes in Technology Landscape
Defense and Government Industry Salaries Rise While Computer Software Salaries
Fall
Washington D.C., Southern California and Atlanta Show Improved Pay
NEW YORK, Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Dice Inc., the leading job
board for technology, engineering and security-cleared professionals, today
released results of its 2004 Annual Salary Survey. The survey of more than
23,000 technology professionals details key industry trends and points to
changes in the technology landscape as demand for specialized technology
skills continues to escalate in the government and defense sectors.
Significant trends in the survey include:
* A decline in overall salaries to levels not seen since before 2001, but
an increase in salaries in non-traditional technology cities, such as
Washington D.C., Atlanta and the Southern California area.
* An increase in salaries in defense and government related industries
where security clearances are often required.
* A continued gender gap in pay of approximately 11 percent.
* The continued decline of salaries for contractors and consultants.
Overall, technology salaries in the United States decreased 2.6 percent
from an average of $69,600 in 2003 to $67,800 in 2004, partly due to declines
in the computer software industry (down 5.7 percent) and a steep decline in
the Internet services sector (down 9.8 percent). Sliding salaries for
contractors and consultants also contributed to the overall decline: contract
workers in 2004 reported earning an average of $82,000, 9.1 percent less than
2003 salaries and almost 20 percent less than they reported in 2001.
For the third year in a row, government and defense salaries proved to be
the bright spot in the survey, with a 2.9 percent gain, from $64,600 to
$66,500. With an average salary of $77,700, the financial services industry
remained the top paying industry for technology professionals tracked by the
salary survey, despite declining 2.4 percent since last year (see Table 1).
"Salaries are still feeling the impact of the tech slowdown of 2002 and
2003," said Scot Melland, president and CEO of Dice Inc. "Now that demand is
picking up, we anticipate seeing salaries rise as the labor markets tighten.
In fact, we have already started to see this happening in markets such as
Southern California, Washington D.C., Atlanta and in the government and
defense related industries."
Gender Gap
The gender gap held steady this year at about 11 percent, as women
reported salaries on average of $60,400 and men reported earning an average of
$67,800.
* The gap varied significantly by industry: women's salaries ranged from
on par to men's in the computer hardware industry to 17 percent less in
the banking and financial sector.
* Notably, the gender gap was lowest for women who entered the tech
market during the tech boom years (those with three to five years of
experience); they earned just 1.4 percent less than their male
counterparts in 2004
Geography
Salaries have improved in Washington D.C. (up 3.6 percent), Atlanta (up
2.6 percent) and Southern California (up 1.1 percent) from 2003 (see Table 3).
These metro areas have also seen significant growth in job postings on the
Dice site, up 93 percent, 140 percent and 74 percent respectively between
December of 2003 and December of 2004.
* Despite seeing salaries decline in 2004, Silicon Valley and New York
remained the top two paying markets for technology workers in the
United States with average salaries of $84,200 and $76,500
respectively. Atlanta replaced Boston as the third highest paying
market in 2004 with an average salary of $75,500.
* Atlanta and San Diego are the only major metro areas to have salaries
increase since 2001; average salaries in 2004 were 5.0 percent and 3.5
percent higher, respectively, compared to 2001.
Age & Experience
As expected, earning power increased with age and experience. The average
salary for technology professionals between the ages of 18 and 24 was $34,400,
while technology professionals over 50 reported average salaries of $79,000
(see Table 4).
* Of note, year over year salary decreases got smaller with age: from a
13.5 percent decrease for respondents between 18 and 24 to a 1.1
percent increase for workers over 50.
Skills and Titles
Management positions continue to dominate the top five paying job titles.
In 2004, MIS manager positions had the largest salary gain versus 2003
compared to other titles, increasing 1.2 percent to $77,900. Since 2001,
salaries for this position have increased 11 percent. The highest paying
titles remained identical to 2003: IT management professionals were at the top
with $101,500 and project management professionals followed with $85,700.
* Salaries for PC technicians and help desk professionals saw the largest
decreases dropping 10.4 percent (to $33,600) and 9.5 percent (to
$35,300) respectively.
* Top paying skills for 2004 included Enterprise Resource Planning or ERP
($80,600) and Sybase ($77,200).
* Full-time workers with Unix and C/C++, the skills most requested on
Dice.com, reported earning $75,500 and $66,100 respectively.
Users can log on to http://marketing.dice.com/rateresults to search for
specific salary information based on location, job function, skills and
education. Dice.com currently lists more than 60,000 permanent, contract and
consulting jobs nationwide for a wide variety of positions from software
developers, engineers and project managers to CIOs and other technology
professionals.
Information for the Dice Salary Survey Report was collected from over
23,000 Dice.com visitors between January and December of 2004.
Table 1: Tech Salaries, 2001 - 2004
2001 2002 2003 2004
U.S. Average $70,800 $69,700 $69,600 $67,800
Bank / Financial / Insurance $80,700 $80,200 $79,600 $77,700
Telecommunications $74,100 $73,000 $73,000 $71,600
Computer Software $73,100 $73,700 $75,000 $70,700
Medical / Pharmaceutical $65,500 $68,900 $69,900 $68,400
Government / Defense $57,900 $62,000 $64,600 $66,500
Manufacturing $64,100 $64,100 $66,400 $65,000
Internet Services $70,500 $64,200 $66,400 $59,900
Computer Hardware $55,700 $55,600 $57,900 $57,200
Retail / Mail Order / E-Commerce $61,600 $59,300 $61,500 $55,600
Table 2: Percent Women Earn
Less Than Men by Industry,
2004
Computer Hardware 1 %
Telecommunications -5 %
Internet Services -8 %
Computer Software -8 %
Government / Defense -10 %
Manufacturing -11 %
Retail/ Mail Order/ E-Commerce -13 %
Medical / Pharmaceutical -15 %
Bank / Financial / Insurance -17 %
Table 3: Metro Area Salaries, 2002 - 2004
2002 2003 2004
Silicon Valley $86,800 $87,700 $84,200
New York $78,000 $78,600 $76,500
Atlanta $73,700 $73,600 $75,500
Boston $75,600 $76,300 $75,300
Baltimore/ Washington DC $73,100 $71,400 $74,000
Dallas/ Ft. Worth $72,000 $73,000 $71,900
San Diego $70,700 $69,000 $71,600
Los Angeles $70,300 $70,800 $71,200
Denver $76,800 $73,000 $69,700
Seattle $73,700 $71,000 $69,600
Philadelphia $68,500 $69,500 $69,500
Chicago $72,000 $71,100 $69,200
Detroit $65,800 $62,300 $61,900
Table 4: Average Salary by Age,
2003 - 2004
2003 2004
18-24 $39,800 $34,400
25-29 $58,600 $51,900
30-39 $73,500 $69,700
40-49 $80,100 $77,900
50 and over $78,800 $79,700
For more information on the rising market in positions requiring security
clearance, visit ClearanceJobs.com, the premier job board exclusively focused
on candidates with active or current U.S. government security clearances.
According to experts at ClearanceJobs.com, an active or current security
clearance could mean up to an additional $20,000 in annual pay for the right
candidate.
About Dice Inc.
Dice Inc. is the leading provider of online recruiting services for
technology, engineering and security-cleared professionals. With a 14-year
track record in meeting the ever-changing needs of the technology sector, our
specialty industry focus and exposure to the most skilled tech-centric
audience online foster a talent marketplace where employers reach hard-to-
find, experienced and qualified technology, engineering and security-cleared
professionals.
Dice Inc. provides services through Dice.com, the leading online
technology-focused job board, and MeasureUp, a leading provider of assessment
and preparation products for technology professional certifications. Dice Inc.
also provides specialized nationwide services in the security clearance sector
through ClearanceJobs.com, the premier job board focused exclusively on
candidates with security clearances, and Targeted Job Fairs, a leading
provider of career fairs for candidates with security clearances. For
additional information, please visit http://about.dice.com .
SOURCE Dice Inc.
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Related links:
http://about.dice.com
http://marketing.dice.com/rateresults
http://www.ClearanceJobs.com http://www.Dice.com
CONTACT:
Susan Simcox, Public Relations Manager, Dice
Inc., pr@dice.com; Media Contact - Jennifer McCullam of Financial
Dynamics, +1-212-850-5600, jmccullam@fd-us.com, for Dice Inc.
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