Skills shortage forcing CIOs to raise wage offers

IT professionals are taking advantage of Australia’s ongoing technology skills shortage to negotiate higher salaries than initially offered, according to research from Robert Half.

A survey by the specialist recruitment company found that IT employers are having to increase their salary offer for seven out of every 10 new IT hires.

A separate survey of jobseekers meanwhile found that 59% cite salary as the most important factor when accepting a job offer.

The pressure to increase salaries is intensified by the fact that 88% of CIOs report that it is more challenging to attract qualified IT professionals to their organisation compared to five years ago.

This pressure led to the Australian IT sector experiencing annual wage growth of 3.3% higher than the national average across all industries, according to ITPA statistics.

The top three factors which would prompt CIOs to offer a higher than expected base salary are experience (48%), technical skills (46%) and related industry experience (38%).

“The global technology race is in full swing, with many businesses adopting innovative technologies, such as blockchain, AI, machine learning, natural language processing and augmented reality, to differentiate themselves from the competition,” Robert Half Australia Director Andrew Morris said.

“Consequently, demand is rapidly rising for high-calibre tech candidates in an increasingly competitive talent market, which means more skilled IT jobseekers are able to negotiate higher salaries as companies endeavour to secure their preferred candidate.”

Meanwhile, the survey suggests that the most in-demand IT role is full stack developer, which commands a salary range of between $77,750 and $106,250. This is followed by business analyst ($78,750–$121,250), IT security manager ($131,250–$198,750), network engineer ($88,750–$142,500) and manual test analyst ($88,750–$142,500).

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/4Max

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