In the eight years since ITWeb began its IT Salary Survey, it has seen a steady growth of participating IT professionals. This has enabled an improvement on the report year-on-year, and better reflects the complexities that accompany salaries in the South African IT sector.
This year, a clearer distinction between permanent staff and contractors was made.
The vast majority of respondents were permanent staff (83%), over six times as many as contractors, who made up 13% of the sample - a slight increase from last year`s 12%.
Industry and education
[CHART]Of the permanent respondents, 20% come from the services and consulting arenas, while 15% are involved in software development. Other top sectors include financial services, banking and insurance at 13% and telecommunications and cellular providers at 8%.
A large percentage of respondents were well educated, with most having a technikon diploma or university degree, and a large number sporting professional certification, honours degrees or some form of further education and training.
Men @ work
Women kept a low profile this year with 18% of the permanent staff component being female, a slight drop from last year`s 20%. The majority were at staff level (20%), however, women respondents at strategic management level were on the up, from 8% last year to 12% this year, while operational management level respondents stayed constant at 18%.
Although still making up the largest percentage of the sample, white respondents dropped this year with 66%, compared to last year`s 70% (and 75% in 2004). At the strategic management level the share occupied by white respondents dropped to 81%, compared to last year`s 83.5%.
Black respondents increased to 13% from last year`s 12% and are mostly on staff level (19%), with 8% at mid-management level and 5% at the top strategic management level.
Indian respondents increased to 11% from last year`s 8%, with 12% at staff level, 10% at operational management and 8% at strategic management.
Age and experience
Of this year`s respondents, the majority were in the 26 to 30 age group (30%), with the 31 to 35 and the 20 to 25 age groups following with 23% and 21% respectively.
Most of the respondents have been in the IT industry for between two and 12 years, with five years (12%) being the most popular response category. While the sample is predominantly young, respondents who have been in the industry for over 20 years made up a respectable 9%.
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