$ & Sense


When you stack ICT salaries up against other industries, the news isn’t just good, it’s very good! According to recruitment agency Hudson (who conducts annual salary surveys for its clients) an intermediate software developer with three + years experience can earn upwards of $60,000 a year. That’s comparable with salaries in accounting and finance.

So how is salary determined? Well, that depends on the following factors:

  • The type of ICT job.
  • Number of years of work experience.
  • If you work in the public or private sector - private sector ICT jobs tend to have a slightly higher salary level than public sector ones.
  • Whether you work as a contractor or are in a permanent position - contractors generally get paid more than people in permanent jobs, but they don’t have the same level of job security (however, with so many ICT jobs in high demand, this is perhaps less of a risk than in other industries).

Despite all these different factors, we can give you some idea of the salary you can expect as a graduate with a university degree – it’s likely to be around $40,000 per year. This is comparable to graduate salaries in many other industries, but slightly higher than those in Social Sciences, Humanities and Biological Sciences.

The great news about ICT salaries is that there is upward trend in salary rates, mainly because of the growing skill shortage. In 2006, Software Engineers, Software Architects, Testers and ICT Management jobs experienced the most significant salary increases.

Salary surveys conducted in 2005 and 2006 show the salary ranges for different ICT jobs in the private sector. Here are some examples of occupations and the corresponding salary range from salary surveys conducted in 2005 and 2006 in the private sector.

  • Software Programmer: $35 -$125,000
  • Systems Analyst: $55 -$130,000
  • Electronics Engineer: $40 -$100,000
  • Electronics Technician: $35 - $50,000
  • Project Manager: $60 -$125,000
  • Sales Manager: $95 -$200,000

In short, whatever ICT job you end up in, you’ll be very well paid for it. But, remember, the rewards aren’t limited to money. There’s also the exciting roles themselves, a variety of career paths, future job security, exposure to cutting-edge technology, opportunities for travel and a whole lot more.