ROBERT HALF TECHNOLOGY RELEASES SALARY GUIDE 2011

Research Shows Increase in Average Starting Salaries for IT Professionals

EDITOR'S NOTE: Your readers can download a free copy of the Robert Half Technology 2011 Salary Guide by visiting www.rht.com/SalaryCenter.

TORONTO, Oct. 26 /CNW/ - Information technology (IT) professionals in Canada can expect starting salaries to increase an average of 3.6 per cent in 2011, according to the just-released Robert Half Technology Salary Guide 2011. Larger increases in base compensation are expected in high-demand segments such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), consulting and systems integration, and applications and web development.

Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of IT professionals on a project and full-time basis. The annual salary survey is based on an in-depth analysis of the thousands of job placements managed by the company's Canadian offices. Since compensation varies by geographic region, the Salary Guide provides regional variance data to help hiring managers adjust starting salaries for their specific markets.

"Most businesses are recognizing that creating a strong, knowledgeable IT team is pertinent to remaining market competitive," said Lara Dodo, regional vice president of Robert Half Technology. "Although many firms previously held back on IT investment due to the economic downturn, these organisations are now using their budgets to enhance their existing technology tools and augmenting their teams to support web development, handle laptop rollouts, and install/manage custom-built applications & systems."

According to the Salary Guide, ERP business analysts will see the greatest starting salary gains of any job classification in 2011, with base compensation expected to rise 9.3 per cent, to between $80,000 to $105,000 annually.

Other key findings from the Robert Half Technology Salary Guide 2011 include:

    
    -   Base compensation for IT auditors - within the consulting and systems
        integration segment - is projected to increase 9.1 per cent next
        year, to a range of $74,500 to $97,000.
    -   Average starting salaries for ERP technical/functional analysts will
        rise 8.5 per cent, to the range of $82,250 to $118,000 annually.
    -   Lead application developers will see average starting salaries rise
        7.1 per cent, to the range of $78,750 to $109,000 per year.
    -   Base compensation for data warehouse analysts will increase
        6.9 per cent, with starting salaries of $77,250 to $105,000 annually,
        on average.
    

Industries forecasting particularly strong demand for IT professionals in 2011 include healthcare, oil and gas, and business services.

Information in the Salary Guide is based on thousands of project and full-time placements made by Robert Half Technology staffing and recruiting specialists, and exclusive research on hiring trends conducted by Robert Half Technology. Ongoing salaries are not reported since seniority, performance, work ethic and other hard-to-measure factors can affect pay as individual work histories develop.

The Salary Guide 2011 is accompanied by the Robert Half Technology Salary Center (www.rht.com/SalaryCenter), featuring additional analysis on hiring and compensation trends and the Robert Half Technology Salary Calculator, which allows users to quickly determine the starting salary range for their specific position and location.

Organisations of all sizes and industries turn to the Robert Half Technology Salary Guide to benchmark salary levels and make better hiring decisions. In addition, educational institutions and research entities have consulted the guide for the latest compensation data.

With more than 100 locations worldwide, Robert Half Technology is a leading provider of technology professionals for initiatives ranging from web development and multiplatform systems to network security and technical support. Robert Half Technology offers online job search services at www.rht.com. Follow Robert Half Technology on Twitter at twitter.com/RobertHalfTech.

Note to editor: Visit the Robert Half Technology press room for additional survey results, research findings, press releases and media contact information at www.rht.com/PressRoom.

For further information: TO SPEAK WITH A LOCAL EXPERT, CONTACT: Robert Half Technology, Nadia Santoli, 416-350-2330, [email protected]