Aussie IT pros could see big pay rise in 2017

As digital transformation efforts accelerate in many industries across most of Australia, IT professionals with the skills to execute such projects are in high demand for 2017 and are likely to see salaries increase as a result, according to the latest Robert Walters Annual Survey Salary.

IT professionals with emerging skill sets suited to the new digital paradigm — such as big data, DevOps, cyber security and cloud collaboration — are expected to be particularly sought after in 2017.

The technology sector is considered among the three industries most likely to enjoy double-digit wage growth in 2017, with senior IT professionals in NSW set to be the biggest winners.

The recruitment company’s research meanwhile shows that there was a substantial shift towards contracting for IT roles in 2016, even though the contracting market has been mature in Australia for years.

This trend is expected to continue Australia-wide in 2017 as more IT professionals prioritise interesting project work over the stability of permanent employment. Employers are also giving professionals the confidence to choose contracting by offering more roles with increased longevity.

In contrast to the rest of the country, the IT jobs market in Western Australia was more challenging due to the continued decline in the resources sector following the mining boom.

Many large projects ended or were put on hold in 2016 as a result, leading to redundancies across general roles and few opportunities for project managers and related professionals. Contract rates and salaries therefore declined — a trend Robert Walters said it expects to continue this year.

Divided by state, the 10 roles expected to command the biggest salary increases are listed below.

Australia’s hottest salaries for 2017

State	Role	2016 salary	2017 salary (predicted)
NSW	IT network/system engineer	$110,000 (max)	$160,000 (max)
NSW	Funds and operational analysts	$60,000 (max)	$80,000 (max)
VIC	Digital marketing manager	$140,000 (max)	$180,000 (max)
QLD	Logistics officer	$60,000 (min)	$75,000 (min)
NSW	Project manager	$130,000 (max)	$160,000 (max)
NSW	DevOps engineer	$90,000 (min)	$110,000 (min)
NSW	IT tester	$70,000 (min)	$85,000 (min)
QLD	Customer service team leader	$75,000 (max)	$90,000 (max)

Source: Robert Walters

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