Beancounters working for the recruiter Randstad Technologies claim that IT professionals have survived the economic crisis better than other sectors and now earn more on average than… er, the beancounters.
Randstad Technologies analysed Office of National Statistics and professional industry data on every occupation in the UK, taking into account the aggregate wage bill for full-time staff between 2002 and 2014 and divided by its shoe size.
The total wage bill for full-time employees in IT jobs rose 82 percent from £17.4 billion in 2002 to £31.6 billion in 2014, reaching five percent of the total wage bill for all UK full time employees.
More than 400,000 people have taken on IT jobs since 2002.
Ruth Jacobs, managing director of Randstad Technologies, said: “The increasing demand for Tech has been the umbrella which sheltered the sector from the storm of the recession. As technology has become a larger part of our lives, the industry has grown dramatically, with 400,000 new full time jobs in just 12 years. The growth in the sector has been so significant it’s now responsible for five per cent of the total UK wage bill. But this rapid expansion means there is tough competition for Tech talent as employers want to find the right people for the right jobs.
“The demand for people will advanced IT skills will only grow in the future, as Britain will need 2.2 million digitally skilled workers by 2020 to match the sector’s potential. This means that if you are qualified for software developer jobs, data analyst jobs or network engineer jobs, it will be easier to find work, with almost no chance of being laid off long periods of time.”
Randstad said the average wage for tech professionals has fallen by 11 per cent, but despite this, they have still done better comparatively, with tech employees earning more on average than accountants.
Jacobs, added: “As technology has progressed, the costs associated with the industry have dropped exponentially in line with Moore’s law. This helps to explain why the average wage of Tech professionals has declined more than some other sectors. However, IT jobs still offer some of the highest average salaries in the UK, overtaking accountants.
“While the average salary figures have been boosted by the number of IT jobs in London, the growth of fin-tech jobs and IT security Jobs have helped the sector to do well compared to other industries.
