Salary Report: IT in Choppy Economic Seas and Roaring Winds of Change

The 2024 InformationWeek US IT Salary Report reveals how IT leaders fared last year in the face of strong economic contradictions. The US economy boomed and companies across industries saw record profits. Consumer spending remained high as did interest rates and inflation. Generative AI blasted onto the scene and adoption rates soared. And yet the news of massive layoffs thundered across the land, most notably in tech companies. Every pearl of wisdom regarding the effects of specific economic and employment cycles lost its sheen, and ultimately its value.  

So where does this leave IT pros in the big picture? Despite ongoing uncertainty, the report found that most (56%) in IT are satisfied with their job and compensation. However, their stress rose to an average of six on a 10-point scale. Nearly half, 42%, feel overworked, but 58% say they’ll stay put in their current job anyway. Of those who say they are willing to jump ship, 64% say it will be for higher pay rather than the niceties like plusher benefits and more time off.  

Where Things Stand Now 

While the 2024 InformationWeek US IT Salary Report goes into much finer detail on the reality of those working in IT, suffice it to say that IT professionals are mostly hanging on as they wait for conditions to settle.  

That may take a while considering 2024 came in with more of the same. According to a report by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy is still growing with the latest measure in July showing real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 2.8% in the second quarter of 2024. Continuing growth numbers are credited to cooling inflation and a sustained and strong labor market. These factors also point to a soft landing rather than a full-on recession, the fear of which rose its head again recently when inflation briefly surged in recent months but subsided shortly thereafter.  

Ghosts and Layoffs 

Despite continued growth and falling inflation, Amazon, IBM, Google, UPS, TikTok, Snap, Salesforce, Intuit, OpenText, and Tesla are among the companies shedding jobs this year. The trend shows few signs of slowing. According to a report by Layoffs.fyi, 376 tech companies report laying off some 108,591 employees so far this year. Of course, IT departments exist across industries, so the numbers of IT layoffs grow larger in the total picture. The InformationWeek report found employers pinned layoffs on “restructuring,” mostly for added profitability and to reduce pandemic-level bloat, rather than current macro-economic factors.  

But there appears to be something more afoot. It’s not just the continuing rounds of layoffs that are spooking IT professionals. It’s also the growing number of fake job listings -- aka “ghost jobs” -- which three in 10 companies admit to putting on their sites or on job boards, according to Resume Builder’s recent survey. It’s an unsettling and bewildering trend. Over half (55%) of respondents to a new survey from FlexJobs and MyPerfectResume said “ghost jobs are the biggest challenge that they have faced or are currently facing -- outranking ‘finding a job with a salary that meets their needs’ (51%).” 

But even if IT pros do find a legit opening to apply for, they may find themselves ghosted somewhere during the interview process. According to the FlexJobs survey, “nearly half (48%) of people said they have been “ghosted” by an employer at least once (15%) or more than once (33%) during the interview process.” 

Machine versus Manpower 

The jury is still out on whether the sudden and dramatic uptake of generative AI (GenAI) across industries will help or hurt IT jobs and salaries. But so far, IT professionals see GenAI as a net positive. According to the InformationWeek report, “24% added personnel in IT due to AI, and 24% added new dedicated positions/personnel related to AI. Meanwhile, AI/machine learning skills has jumped to the No. 1 place (32% this year vs. 14% last year) for skills that would benefit respondents’ individual or salary advancement. Respondents considered it more beneficial to advancement than leadership skills or cybersecurity skills. “ 

To learn more details about the complex world of IT employment and salary trends, read the full 2024 InformationWeek US IT Salary Report here.