The State of the IT Worker

According to a survey done by Information Week, the average IT professional makes 90,000, with a prospective one percent raise, every year. Special skills in things like wireless infrastructure and cloud computing topped one hundred thousand a year. That’s a fair chunk of change. So why is it that forty percent of all IT professionals looking for a new job?

Well, the survey clearly states that salary and benefits are the number one and three concerns respectively with stability between them. That seems like a no-brainer. However, forty percent of responders cited whether or not their opinion and knowledge were valued. I think that’s something that a manager or supervisor has a lot control over. A simple meeting to exchange and discuss ideas could improve office moral. Another factor that stood out was that twenty-two percent of IT professionals cited seeing their work contributing to company success as important. This is an old story on why blue collar workers are happier (at least in the past fifty years). They see the fruits of their labor. If IT professionals can see that their work is actually doing something it will increase their own sense of self.

The IT workplace is evolving. More and more programming and help desk jobs are being sent overseas. If you’re an IT worker and reading the writing on the wall, you should consider an occupation better suited to the post industrial age. All indicators point towards business analysis as the up and coming IT position. Business in the information age is done at a dizzying pace. Combine that with a more unstable economic environment, business leaders require more and more projections. Business Analysis is all about an interdisciplinary approach toward solving problems, utilizing tech savvy and business sense. It’s the way of the future.

Check this video out to learn more: