IT specialists stand to receive five-digit pay rises on promotion
IT specialists often receive pay rises of £12,000 or more when they move into more senior or managerial positions, according to the latest research into pay in IT, Cyber Security, Data and Business Intelligence by Incomes Data Research (IDR). The median salary differentials observed in five key job pairs range from £12,599 (for IT business/systems analysts who move up to become IT project managers) to £22,959 in Cyber Security promotions.
Cyber Security offers greatest scope for pay increases when moving to more senior roles
Within the Development and Architecture job family, IT business/systems analysts, who act as the conduit between users and the development team, often progress to the role of IT project manager, overseeing end-to-end development of new IT systems/applications. According to IDR’s research, the median salary for IT business/systems analysts is £46,000 while IT project managers typically earn £58,599, a difference of £12,599.
Meanwhile a differential of £15,730 is seen at the median for software development roles: IT software developers have a median salary of £49,329 while IT software development managers have a median salary of £65,059. The highest differential in the Development and Architecture job family – at £16,500 – is seen between data engineers (on median salaries of £45,500) and senior data engineers, who typically earn £62,000 according to IDR’s research.
Careers within Systems Maintenance also offer scope for substantial pay progression upon promotion. IDR’s data shows that IT systems and networks engineers, who provide technical network and security support, earn £18,602 less at the median than IT systems and network managers (£41,866 and £60,468 respectively).
The largest differential, at £22,959, was found within Cyber Security where postholders ensure IT systems are secure and protected. At the Cyber Security Officer level, a median salary of £47,339 was found whereas at management level, the median salary is £70,298.
Highest rates often found in manufacturing
‘When looking at median pay for these job families by sector, we generally found the highest rates in the manufacturing and primary sector with the exception of IT Software Development, where the highest median was found in private sector services,’ explains Katherine Gomez, Researcher at IDR. ‘By contrast the public and not-for-profit sectors generally offered the lowest median salaries.’
A fifth of IT roles attract market supplements
Across the broader sample, which covered 26 roles altogether, IDR’s research found that IT staff typically work 37 hours per week and are entitled to 25 days’ holiday per year, excluding bank holidays. One fifth of companies in the overall sample, predominantly within the public sector, report paying a market supplement for some IT roles. ‘Nearly a fifth of the roles which pay market supplements are IT systems and networks engineers and we found these ranged from £2,500 to £10,500,’ reports Gomez.
Note for Editors
In February 2024, IDR undertook a survey of pay for a range of roles within IT, Cyber, Data and Business Intelligence. The survey received detailed responses from 56 organisations, together employing over 730,000 employees in the UK. The survey is a new addition to the pay and benefits reports in our extensive internal research programme.
Incomes Data Research also monitors pay reviews across the economy throughout the year and publishes findings in ‘Pay Climate’, our quarterly e-bulletin, with additional monthly updates on our website: https://www.incomesdataresearch.co.uk/.
Our data is used by all those concerned with decisions on pay, including employers in the private and public sectors, government bodies, trade unions and economists. We have conducted research for a wide range of clients including the Low Pay Commission and the Office of Manpower Economics, as well as for a range of employers and employee representative organisations.
For any queries relating to this research please contact Katherine Gomez on 01702 669549 or katherinegomez@incomesdataresearch.com or Ken Mulkearn on 07392 018997 kenmulkearn@incomesdataresearch.com.