Smart Companies Still Looking For Smart IT PeopleSmart Companies Still Looking For Smart IT People

Are IT jobs defying gravity as overall U.S. employment figures continue to tank? Latest monthly employment figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and a recent IT pay trends study by research firm Foote Partners sheds some insight into what IT skills remain hot in an ice-cold jobs climate.According to the BLS, the U.S. added 11,000 management and technical consulting services jobs in January. That follows 9,000 management and consulting services jobs that also were added in October and November. In between, December showed a slight dip in those jobs. Still the figures are pretty promising for tech pros, considering that close to 600,000 nonfarm jobs were lost in the U.S. in January alone, according to the BLS.

Not everyone is surprised by the IT job sector's relative spunk. David Foote, CEO of research firm Foote Partners, has been meticulously monitoring IT skill and pay trend data for more than a decade. What his firm found in its most recent IT pay trends study seems to reflect what the latest BLS figures are showing.

Certainly not all IT pros are seeing their pay grow, says Foote. For instance, Foote's report indicates that pay premiums -- and demand -- for Web developers has slipped in recent months. But folks with other certain specific IT skills sets -- certified and non-certified -- have been getting pay perks despite these rocky economic times.

As companies look to cut costs, automation (including software automation) and business process improvements have been a focus, said Foote in an interview with information. That trends seems to show in the upswing of "premium pay" (the extra boost in paychecks either as part of base pay or as a bonus) that Foote has been seeing over the last three to 12 months in noncertified management/methodology/process skills, which are all important in improving and standardizing processes.

IT pros with those related skills have seen average pay premiums rise 5.6% over the last three months. On average, IT professionals having those skills saw an average extra reward of 10.3% (as a percentage of base pay) in their paychecks for having that expertise.

Other hot skill categories seeing pay spikes despite the recession are IT architects and project managers with various certifications. "Architecture's key to running a good solid business, and there aren't enough architecture skills out there," says Foote. "Companies are making improvements, investing in their architecture both for the short and long term," he says.

For example, in the shorter term, as the number of corporate acquisitions rise as a result of recession, so, too, is demand for IT architecture skills related to integration. Meanwhile, more forward-looking companies are focusing on IT architecture improvements to support future growth opportunities once the economy recovers, he says.

Foote's organization analyzes pay trends among 84,000 IT professionals at nearly 2,000 companies. Employers looking for various hot talent include IT organizations within "user companies," but also those in the IT services sector, as clients look to outsource work to save money. Foote says he suspects that small to midsized IT services businesses are seeing a lot of this activity as they attract new smaller clients.

"In general, large services companies like IBM are looking to make huge deals," he says. "They'd rather have a $10 million deal with one company, than $1 million deals with 10 companies."

Assorted database, security, storage and database skills also are seeing pay premiums and demand rise, says Foote.

"Smart companies are using this time to set themselves up to be more competitive, well-positioned in the longer term, not just focusing on cutting in the short-term," he says. "It's up to the leadership of IT to argue for investments that are strategic to the company long term, but don't have short term ROI."

So, apparently, smart companies also are looking for smart IT people with key expertise, despite what's going on in the economy -- or perhaps because of it. Is your organization one of those smart companies? Are you one of those smart people?

Tell us about it.

(Speaking of smart companies, each year information honors the nation's 500 most innovative users of business technology. Companies with $250 million or more in revenue are invited to apply for the 2009 information 500.)