The tech industry has experienced some ups and downs over the past year. While overall tech unemployment remains low, some of the biggest names in tech have been cutting staff. How is that impacting salaries?
According to the latest Dice Tech Salary Report, tech professionals are actually seeing their paychecks grow: some 66 percent of respondents said their annual income rose in 2022, versus 63 percent in 2021. A mere 6 percent received a smaller paycheck in 2022, versus 8 percent in 2021, and 27 percent reported their income remained the same. Organizations everywhere are clearly happy to pay more to attract and retain tech-centric employees.
What powered the pay increases? Here’s a quick breakdown:
Thirty-one percent of tech professionals enjoyed a merit raise. For 24 percent of tech professionals, changing employers impacted their take-home pay in a positive way. Smaller percentages boosted their checks via changing their type of work (i.e., consultant vs. permanent position), different clients, a higher billing rate, and so on.
When it comes to paychecks, jumping employers is a double-edged sword, as 35 percent of tech professionals reported their salary dropped after doing so. Perhaps they were willing to take this decrease for any number of reasons, including better work-life balance or a different office location. Other respondents said their pay dropped after switching clients or contracts, a changed work type, a layoff or less overtime.
In fact, the tech professionals who took an income hit when they switched employers climbed noticeably (from 29 percent in 2021 to 35 percent in 2022), suggesting that many have different considerations than pay when it comes to deciding where to work. If you’re entering into negotiations with your current employer over pay, make sure you show how your work has positively impacted the organization; if you’ve made a point of adopting new skills, explain how you’ve used them to add value to your team and its projects.
For even more on tech professionals’ compensation, including the top-paying skills and occupations, check out the Dice Tech Salary Report!
