New survey of global IT pay trends

PAY DATA

Pay levels for corporate IT professionals vary considerably around the world, according to a report from Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

IT pay generally is higher in Western Europe and North America than in Asia and Eastern Europe.

IT pay is highest in Switzerland, followed by Germany, Japan, Hong Kong, USA and Denmark.
Pay for IT professionals is lowest in the Philippines, followed by Vietnam, Bulgaria, Malaysia, Indonesia, and India.

But David Van De Voort, global leader of Mercer’ s IT workforce effectiveness group, points out that the pay variations are not necessarily consistent across the four job levels he examined. "In some countries, all IT jobs are paid higher or lower relative to other countries, but there are also countries in which pay for one level of IT expertise is significantly different than a higher or lower level of IT expertise in that same country," says Van De Voort.

"Companies that are exploring off-shoring need to consider the level and type of work they are moving off-shore to gain a true understanding of the potential costs and savings."

Among the top-paying countries, considerable differences in the level of pay exist across IT jobs:

Mexico is the tenth highest-paying country for the top expertise level (senior manager/expert), but ranks 20th for the lowest experience level (team leader/senior professional).
Hong Kong and Italy rank second and ninth, respectively, for senior manager/expert and tenth and 15th, respectively, for team leader/senior professional.

Bonuses and incentives

Low-paying countries deliver a larger percentage of total pay in the form of variable short-term incentives, Mercer’ s survey reveals.

Among the ten lowest-paying countries, the percentage of variable pay ranges from 3% to 15%, with most countries having a variable pay component of 8%.
In high-paying countries, the percentage of variable pay ranges from 1% to 10%, with 4% representing typical practice.

Want to know more?

Title: 2003/2004 IT Function Salary Differentials Worldwide, Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Methodology: Mercer’ s study includes pay data for more than 43,000 information technology professionals in nearly 3,300 companies in 32 countries worldwide. The analysis of pay differences is based on IT jobs categorised into four levels of expertise:

team leader/senior professional
supervisor/experienced professional
manager/specialist
senior manager/expert.

Availability: The report can be purchased by contacting Mercer at www.imercer.com, cost $1,200. You can read the full press release online at
www.mercerhr.com/pressrelease/details.jhtml/dynamic/idContent/1140565 jsessionid=S2COPHR4MLMYEAAJAADQOCAKMZSI4I2C

Mercer Human Resource Consulting is one of the world’ s leading consulting organisations. It helps employers "create measurable business results through their people". Mercer has more than 13,000 employees serving clients from some 150 cities in 40 countries worldwide. Visit Mercer online at www.mercerhr.com and www.imercer.com

Posted 21 June 2004