Job Site Finds Salaries Up 2% In 2003Job Site Finds Salaries Up 2% In 2003

After seeing average paychecks shrink in 2002, salaries for IT professionals inched up in 2003, according to a new report by Dice Inc., which surveyed 21,000 visitors to its online job recruitment site from January to December 2003.

The average IT salary in 2003 reached $69,400, up about 2% from $67,900 in 2002. This boost is a reversal compared with the previous year, when Dice's survey reported that average pay for IT pros fell in 2002 by about $500, to $67,900, from $68,400 in 2001.

Looking ahead, Dice president and CEO Scot Melland says 72% of Dice's employer clients plan to increase hiring during the first six months of this year. That's almost a complete reversal from the 70% in 2002 who said they'd be hiring less in 2003.

"The market has turned," Melland says. He believes employers, after focusing on more-seasoned new hires the last couple of years, are beginning to recruit more entry-level IT workers. Their average pay in the Dice survey rose 13% to $44,500 in 2003, from $39,200 in 2002.

For the second consecutive year, government and defense salaries showed the largest gains among all vertical sectors, increasing $2,600, or 4%, to $64,600.

Among nonmanagement IT job titles in 2003, systems developers and software engineers received the highest average annual salaries, at $83,200 and $81,400, respectively. Top-paying IT skills relate to SAP and PeopleSoft Inc. software, with full-time workers with that expertise earning $81,200 and $78,600, respectively.

Senior IT management, including VPs, chief technology officers, and CIOs, received an average salary of $104,000. Other top-earning management titles were project manager, at an average of $88,300 in 2003.

Apparently 2003 was also a better year for female IT professionals. While there was still an average pay gap of 11% between men and women IT pros, it narrowed from a 13% difference in 2002.