IT jobs: Demand for skilled tech staff drives up pay

IT salaries rise five per cent as employers compete for skilled workers...

IT salaries have increased five per cent over the past 12 months, driven partly by a shortage of candidatesPhoto: Shutterstock

Increased competition for skilled tech workers has driven up IT salaries over the past year.

Two reports out this week indicate that employers are finding it harder to hire the skilled tech workers they need as recruitment begins to return to pre-recession levels.

Matthew Iveson, director at IT recruitment specialist CV Screen, said in a statement that "the employer-driven market of a year ago is now shifting towards a candidate-driven market, which is driving up salaries".

Salaries paid to IT workers in permanent positions have increased by five per cent over the past 12 months, according to the CV Screen report.

In a separate survey, professional services firm KPMG found that overall job vacancies have reached their highest point since April last year, with competition for quality candidates increasing, particularly in the IT sector. CV Screen also reported that the number of advertised IT jobs has increased by over 25 per cent.

While the KPMG report said private sector job creation is not yet sufficient to absorb overall job losses from the public sector, CV Screen reported that in the tech industry the number of applications per role has fallen by 20 per cent. These findings support a further study by industry body e-skills UK, which reported that there were more vacancies than applicants in the IT sector.

Iveson commented that the increase in demand for skilled tech workers can be partly attributed to the economic recovery. "Rather than cutting back on staff, we are now seeing employers looking to grow the size of their workforce and having to offer more competitive salaries to secure the best talent," he said.

Skilled candidates with a background in .NET, PHP and Java development sectors were particularly in demand, according to CV Screen.