A new survey of the IT employment marketplace released this week indicates that some job listings and wages are beginning to return as the economy begins to recover.
However, the survey, by Janco Associates, found that work opportunities and compensation are not rebounding across the board. Bigger, it turns out, is better.
“Even though many fear a second dip in the economy, CIOs in larger enterprises have been given the ‘yellow light’ to look ahead and fill positions that were left unfilled last year,” Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco, said in a statement.
“The same is not the case for mid-sized companies. They are much more cautious and concerned that the recovery will not be strong enough to support increased IT spending,” Janulaitis added.
Pay for IT professionals overall has risen slightly — averaging $78,210, a slight gain from $77,690 this time last year.
Meanwhile, the average compensation for IT executives at large enterprises is now at $143,378, up slightly from $142,753. Executive IT positions in mid-sized enterprises, in contrast, average $125,079, down slightly from $126,031.
Given that the economy continues to improve, mid-sized enterprises could start hiring again, although to date many of them are still not hiring, according to Janco.
Additionally, the average compensation for all IT positions in mid-sized companies has dropped slightly from $73,905 to $73,439, Janco’s survey showed. At the same time, average pay for CIOs at mid-sized firms grew just 3.73 percent since a year ago to $169,303. That’s about half the increase that CIOs of larger companies saw — an increase of 7.52 percent to $181,553.
The survey’s findings appear to bolster similar cautious optimism in other recent IT hiring surveys.
For example, a Robert Half International survey released last week of 1,400 CIOs in enterprises with 100 or more employees, found that 10 percent intend to add IT staff during the third quarter.
In addition, a Robert Half survey released in March found that 9 percent of IT executives planned to add staff during the second quarter of 2010, while 4 percent said they would cut staff in the same period.
Janco’s IT Salary Survey is based on Janco’s IT professionals’ compensation database, which the company started in 1996.
“The salary survey draws on data collected throughout the year by extensive interviews, Internet-based survey data, and survey forms completed by businesses throughout the United States and Canada,” Janco said in a statement.
Stuart J. Johnston is a contributing writer at InternetNews.com, the news service of Internet.com, the network for technology professionals.