Top IT execs earn more than $500,000 annually: survey

Being at the top in the ICT profession could see you earning more than half a million dollars in annual salary, according to Candle ICT Recruitment’s Salary Intelligence Report.

The report, which draws on more than 7600 anonymous salary entries across 28 permanent and contract positions, found that in New South Wales, a top permanent program manager in the energy and utilities industry is earning $500,000+ per year. A top contract senior business analyst in the financial services industry is earning $500+ per hour, the report found.

The report compared both roles in NSW and found that the senior business analyst’s experience was between 11 and 15 years, while the program manager had 21 to 30 years’ experience working in ICT. The business analyst’s highest level of education was Undergraduate degree, and the program manager’s was a Master’s degree. The business analyst had no direct staff reports, whereas the program manager had 26 to 50 reports.

The second highest paying top ICT executives were in Victoria (project director and systems analyst), followed by Queensland (executive director and program manager), Western Australia (IT architect and solution architect), Australian Capital Territory (enterprise architect and solution architect) and South Australia (account manager and senior project manager). Northern Territory and Tasmania were not included in the report.

The report also found that out of the 15 per cent of top female ICT executives surveyed, on average 8 to 12 per cent earn less in annual salary compared to males. However, female technicians are paid an average of 9 per cent more than males.

“Although there are also still considerable disparities between female and male salaries in management and professional job categories, in the technicians category females are averaging $5,000 a year ahead of males,” Candle executive general manager, Linda Trevor, said in a statement.

Most ICT professionals are paid more under contract than if they were employed as permanent, the report found. There was a significant difference in pay between contract and permanent employees for consultant roles. The report showed a BI/CRM consultant on average earns $83,027 less a year and ERP/supply chain consultant on average earns $70,000 less a year if employed as a permanent staff member.

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Follow Rebecca Merrett on Twitter: @Rebecca_Merrett