It’s been a year of economic uncertainty. Within the tech industry, organizations are wrestling with everything from return-to-office mandates to crafting effective DEIB policies. Given all that turbulence, how are tech professionals feeling about their salaries, work-life balance, the need for side gigs, and more?

According to Dice’s latest sentiment analysis of the tech industry, tech professionals are optimistic about their ability to land a new job: some 60 percent said they would likely change positions within the next 12 months, a year-over-year increase of 15 percent. That implies a considerable amount of optimism among tech pros about their tech skills and their potential worth to future employers.

What’s driving that urge to migrate? Younger tech professionals (i.e., between 25 and 34 years old) are powering much of this increase. Many of them are looking for jobs that offer great work-life balance, flexible schedules, training opportunities, and more. If an employer isn’t offering a fantastic candidate experience during the interview process, along with great benefits once an employee comes aboard, chances are good a tech professional will soon begin looking elsewhere.

There’s a Need for Pay Transparency

Tech professionals also really want pay transparency, which allows them to accurately judge offers and whether it’s worth their time to apply for a job at a particular company. More than a quarter of the American workforce is legally entitled to salary transparency, with states including California, Nevada, and New York passing related laws. Moreover, more than half of workers (including nearly two-thirds of Gen Z applicants) across the country increasingly expect employers to post salary ranges on job ads. 

Although most of the tech professionals we surveyed said they applied to jobs that didn’t disclose pay ranges, the majority agreed that a lack of salary transparency negatively impacts their perception of a company. Seventy-five percent of tech professional respondents agreed that not showing the salary for a position makes them think it will be less competitive or lower than average. Just about two-thirds of respondents are discouraged from applying to jobs that don’t disclose salary information.

Despite how much salary transparency (or a lack thereof) shapes a tech professional’s perception of a company, there are surprising gaps between tech professionals and HR professionals on disclosing pay ranges. Nearly seven in 10 HR professionals indicated that their organization is confident they’re offering competitive salaries; however, only forty-four percent of HR professional respondents said all of their job posts disclose salary information, and over half said only some job posts disclose pay ranges. Companies may need to adjust their position on salary transparency if they want to persuade top talent to apply.

Pay Transparency and Equality

For tech professionals, a company’s salary transparency is a key indicator of its commitment to pay equity. Sixty-three percent of tech professional respondents agreed that a lack of salary transparency is a signal that a company is not committed to pay equity. 

Over half of tech professionals said it is “very” or “extremely” important that their company conduct a pay equity analysis. However, nearly two-thirds of tech professional respondents said their company has not communicated a pay equity analysis to them. That’s despite the fact that eight in 10 HR professional respondents say their company conducted a pay equity analysis, and six in 10 say they’ve communicated a pay equity analysis. 

Bottom line: companies deciding against pay transparency (and equality) are driving tech professionals out the door. That underscores how, as much as salary and benefits matter to tech pros, they also want to work for a place with a culture of fairness.

Work-Life Balance is Always Key

Work-life balance plays a significant role in tech professionals’ willingness to seek new employment opportunities. Although the majority of millennials and nearly half of Gen Z professionals say their job is central to their sense of identity, there’s a strong desire to achieve a better work-life balance. In fact, more professionals are asking up-front in job interviews about how employers will protect their balance.

More than half of tech professional respondents said their work-life balance hasn’t improved since last year (compared to the majority last year who said it improved). It’s worth noting, however, that only 12 percent of respondents indicated their work-life balance has worsened, compared to 16 percent last year. 

Although many tech professionals have returned to the office, many of the open-ended responses to this question suggested dissatisfaction with return-to-office policies as a source of subpar work-life balance. Given how much tech professionals value working remotely, it may be no wonder that work-life satisfaction can dip if employers don’t strike the right balance between remote and hybrid work, as witnessed by the very public drama over scheduling at companies such as Google.

For tech professionals who are tempted to sprint out the door because they don’t like their companies’ current scheduling and remote-work policies (which can impact their work-life balance in serious ways), don’t take that step just yet: with tech unemployment at historically low levels, and demand for specialized tech skills particularly high, there’s some room to negotiate with your manager over your schedule.

Gig Prevalence and Contract Work

Contract and project work has always been popular with both employers and a subset of tech professionals. With widespread layoffs earlier this year and pervasive economic uncertainty, tech companies have been bringing on more contractors for projects that were previously handled by full-time employees. 

Contract work has always been a prominent choice for tech professionals. But factor in record pay expectations and rising consumer prices, and it makes sense that even tech professionals with full-time employment may consider gigs and side hustles for extra cash: 47 percent of tech professional respondents said they have (or had) a gig, and the majority (78 percent) said they pursued gigs to supplement their income. 

Workers can be nervous about informing their full-time employers about their side gigs. However, our survey made it clear that HR professionals generally think it’s acceptable for full-time employees to have side gigs as long as they don’t interfere with work responsibilities (this is in line with employers across industries).  

Optimism Going Forward

Despite a drop in tech job postings after a banner year in 2022, along with layoffs at the biggest tech companies and a widespread sense of economic uncertainty, the tech unemployment rate remains encouragingly low. Tech professionals have considerable opportunities across a wide range of exciting industries. 

Economic confidence among tech professionals was mostly split between optimism (33 percent) and pessimism (26 percent), which is a notable change from last year, when more respondents were pessimistic. No matter how chaotic things might seem, there are always reasons to think positively about the future.