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IT Careers ... What Lies Ahead?

A lot has changed over the years. There was a time when salaries and compensation were growing at 10% a year, and stock options and signing bonuses were being offered to keep IT professionals from job hopping. In fact, in the late '90s the best way to get a boost in pay was to switch jobs. But as I said before, times have changed.

IT remains a highly lucrative career with IT staffers earning a median salary of $60,000 and managers earning $90,000. (See InformationWeek's IT Salary Adviser.) But what lies ahead? How is outsourcing, both onshore and offshore, impacting the IT profession?

When asked if the IT career path was as promising as it was five years ago, the respondents from the 2005 National IT Salary survey were uncertain. In 2005, 69% of IT staff, and 64% of IT management, said that the IT career path was not as promising as it was five years ago. How do you feel about the IT career path?

According to our 2005 National IT Salary survey, three out of five IT professionals believe that outsourcing is making fewer IT jobs available, and it is lowering employee morale. But in some cases, outsourcing is providing new opportunities. In 2005, one out of 10 sites reported hiring new IT workers to support outsourcing efforts, and nearly 20% agreed that outsourcing is an important aspect of global growth.

Outsourcing is a viable solution for many businesses, however only half of the 12,000 sites we surveyed in 2005 reported outsourcing some IT jobs. Based on that data, the majority of the jobs are outsourced in the United States or through a combination of U.S. and offshore partners. Less than 15% of companies reported outsourcing strictly offshore.

And while outsourcing may seem like it's killing IT job prospects, those IT professionals in companies that outsource have higher median salaries than those who are in companies that don’t outsource, according to our 2005 data.

What lies ahead? What is in store for IT as a profession? Is there something that IT professionals can do to improve the outlook? Please participate in the 2006 InformationWeek National IT Salary survey, and let us know your thoughts on outsourcing, the IT career path, salaries and compensation, and job satisfaction.

We'd like to hear from you! You can respond both to this blog and by taking our survey. We look forward to hearing from you!

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