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IT salaries at a glance

ITWeb`s 2004 IT salary survey captured 3 112 responses from a cross-industry sample of South African IT professionals.
Ranka Jovanovic
By Ranka Jovanovic, Editorial Director
Johannesburg, 30 Apr 2004

<a name="_Toc37242684"><B>Definition of remuneration terms</B></a>

The remuneration levels in this survey report are shown in percentiles and are defined as follows:
Lower quartile:
75% of the sample earns more and 25% earns less than this salary level.
Median:
50% of the sample earns more and 50% earns less than this salary level.
Upper quartile:
25% of the sample earns more and 75% earns less than this salary level.
Maximum:
The maximum reported salary per position of the sample.
The percentiles guide a remuneration decision based on level of responsibility, scarcity of skills, complexity of the business and performance of an individual, as examples. Thus, a company could choose to pay at a higher percentile for an individual who exceeds expectations in terms of the above.
In this report we have used the following terms to describe pay levels as defined below:
Basic salary:
The fixed guaranteed cash payment made to an employee, typically monthly. This does not include any bonus or other fringe benefits irrespective of whether these are paid in cash or company-funded.
Total guaranteed package:
The total annual guaranteed cost to a company of employing an IT professional. The cost includes the total annual salary, plus non-cash fringe benefits. Typically these include company car; company pension or provident fund and medical aid contributions; group life and accident insurance; company assistance or subsidies; low interest loans and any other recreational or other benefits. Please note that this figure excludes any incentives paid to an employee.

The 2004 survey captured over 3000 responses from a cross-industry sample of SA IT professional at all levels - executive managers, operational managers and IT staff.

[CHART]Table 1:
Level of responsibility vs salary
Total guaranteed monthly packages as reported in the survey, split by level and by job function.

Where sample sizes were big enough, data at executive level has been split by company size.

Data has been separated for permanent, contract and sales staff.

[CHART]Table 2:
Job title vs salary
Total guaranteed monthly packages as reported in the survey by technical staff and technical managers.

[CHART]Table 3:
Reality check

A comparison of technical staff and manager salaries reported in the survey with packages offered on the job market. (Job market data provided by CareerWeb.)

Related stories:
Methodology: How we did it
Sample: As young, pale and male as ever
Key findings: An up and down year for IT folk
Career paths: The grass is greener on this side
Skills and certifications: Where the money is
Benefits and incentives: Pound of flesh raises
Job satisfaction: Money can buy happiness
Job market trends: On the supply and demand see-saw

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