ACS: ICT salaries on the rebound

According to the ACS, the 2004 financial year brought a halt to the slide in increases in ICT salaries that began in 1999, but salaries are still struggling to keep pace with inflation and falling behind increases in average weekly earnings.

ICT salaries rose 3.4 percent for the financial year -- the first upward trend in ICT salary rises the industry has witnessed since 1998.

ACS President, Edward Mandla, was today talking up the industry on the back of the findings

"This is the first trend upwards since 1998 and represents hope of a recovery for ICT professionals who've been hit hard by the downturn," said Mandla.

However, ICT worker salaries grew at 3.4 percent -- a miserly 1.4 percent ahead of inflation -- while average weekly earnings faired better outstripping inflation by 2.9 percent.

The ACS also said that ICT workers' salaries remained behind those of their peers in other technical vocations, which are tracking more closely to the average earnings rise at somewhere between 4 and 5 percent.

Any upturn has also been slow to take hold in ICT contracting. Overall the market was only able to sustain a slight net increase in rates, where overall most contractors held their fees steady.