Europe leads IT pay scale league
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Offshoring creates fewer but better paid jobs for UK and Ireland IT pros, says report...
Six of the world's 10 highest-paying countries for information technology (IT) managers are in Western Europe , according to a new survey by Mercer. Switzerland pays the highest salaries followed by Denmark , Belgium and the UK . The United States and Canada are ranked sixth and eigth, respectively.
Mercer's 2007 IT Pay around the World survey compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in 6,545 companies in 35 different countries. Multinational companies use the survey to benchmark salaries, bonuses, and other forms of pay, and to allocate global IT budgets.
Based on gross annual total cash, IT staff at all levels are paid the most in Switzerland, where the IT Manager job pays an average of £74,150 annually. The same job level in Denmark (the second highest-paying country) pays £64,750, while Belgium (3) pays an average of £63,760. The UK and Ireland are ranked fourth and fifth, with an average pay of £62,180 and £56,950, respectively.
In the United States, the average IT manager earns £56,550 a year compared with Canada at £49,370.
The survey found that IT managers in Vietnam, Bulgaria and the Philippines receive the lowest pay, respectively, at £8,140, £11,700 and £11,720 a year. Indian IT managers were fourth from the bottom, earning an average of £13,150.
According to David Van De Voort, IT workforce specialist in Mercer's Chicago office: "the impact of outsourcing and off-shoring on IT roles in North America and Western Europe helps explain the pattern of global pay. Lower-level roles are being moved to regions where talent is cheaper; the jobs that remain in Western Europe and the US may be fewer in number but are more demanding and complex roles like vendor relationship manager, internal consultant and IT business partner."
The survey also highlighted that the relationship between experience/skill level and pay varies in different countries. For example, large pay gaps exist between junior and senior career streams in Indonesia, India, Brazil, Chile and Vietnam, which have the highest pay progression ratios between the lowest and highest career streams. In the US and many western European nations, pay increases more proportionately with experience.
Mr David Conroy, a principal in Mercer's London office, said, "This reflects a lack of hierarchy in the West. In these countries, companies are generally more creative in attracting staff. There is more focus on variable factors such as bonus schemes, while in lower-paying countries, the emphasis remains on cash compensation."
Mr Conroy continued, "The globalisation of the IT function continues to develop. Companies in Europe and the US continue to be more imaginative in their remuneration strategies to ensure that they keep the best talent. Employers understand local markets and look to developing successful staff attraction and retention strategies to remain competitive."
Further reading
Risky business What does the future hold for the UK’s IT professionals – from the trainee to the CIO – in a global economy?
