IT Salaries To Rise In 2006: ReportIT Salaries To Rise In 2006: Report

IT auditor positions, in demand due to corporate governance mandates such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, will lead price rises for IT professionals in 2006, according to a salary report from Robert Half Technology.

Issued Wednesday, the report predicted overall IT salaries will increase 3 percent in 2006 compared with a 0.5 percent average increase in 2005. Robert Half Technology, which provides IT professionals for projects and for full-time positions, said the most in-demand positions will be for IT auditors, lead applications developers, and network security administrators.

"Recent gains in IT employment activity, teamed with a shallow candidate pool, are fueling competition for highly skilled individuals," said the firm's executive director Katherine Spencer Lee in a statement. "In addition, companies are accelerating the hiring process to avoid losing top candidates to competing employers."

Leading the pack in salary increases, according to Robert Half Technology's 2006 Salary Guide, will be IT auditors who can expect starting salary increases of 11.2 percent in the range of $67,000 to $94,250 a year. "Greater focus on corporate governance mandates, such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1999, is creating demand for this specialty," said Lee.

"Individuals who can accurately and efficiently evaluate the capabilities of existing systems and make recommendations regarding upgrades will be highly marketable."