This year, we could take a broader snapshot of the IT industry, as a record number of South African ICT professionals - 4 213 - operating across a broad range of industries took part in our survey.
[CHART]As many as 36% of respondents described themselves as technical staff and 17% said they were technical managers.
The gender and race ratios in the sample showed an increase in the number of women represented and a slight drop in the proportion of white respondents.
Changing demographics
[CHART]Over 80% of the respondents were male, but the ratio of women was slightly up on last year`s survey, when just over 17% were women.
Proportionally, there were far fewer women in strategic management (8%) than there were on operational management (18%) and staff (21%) levels.
[CHART]The ratio of white respondents to others dropped slightly this year, although the sample was still predominantly white. Overall, 70% of the respondents were white, compared with 75% last year.
[CHART]There were small proportional gains for black, "coloured" and Indian respondents on strategic management and operational levels, with the biggest gains on the "staff" level.
Again, white ratios were particularly high in the most senior "strategic management" group - at 83.5%. However, this was slightly lower than last year`s 85% at this level.
[CHART]In strategic management, only 7% of respondents were black (up from 5% last year), 3% were coloured (up from 2% last year) and 7% were Indian (up from 5% last year).
On the operational management level, 78% of the respondents were white (the same as last year), and on the staff level, 67% were white, down from last year`s 70%.
[CHART]As was the case last year, the highest proportions of black, coloured and Indian respondents were on the staff level.
Note that these changes may be less an indication of the equity situation across the industry than of the make-up of the ITWeb readership.
Where they are
The overwhelming majority of the respondents (83%) were permanent employees, with 12% saying they were contractors. The others were either students or were not employed.
While 'predictably` the biggest group of respondents worked in various sectors of the ICT industry itself, there were also respondents from across a broad range of other industries. Most respondents work in the ICT services and consulting sector (684), followed by the software development sector (578). The third biggest sector represented was financial services, banking and insurance (516 respondents).
Young techies
Just as last year, most of the survey respondents were under 35 (over 40% of the sample). Another 19% were in their late 30s, 11% in their 40s, and 10% were over the age of 50.
Again, the majority of the respondents were well educated. Most have a technikon diploma or university degree, and quite a few also have postgraduate degrees.
Related stories:
Key findings: Top execs take a pay leap
Technical certifications: Getting into the pound seat
Contractors: A green patch for contractors
Benefits and perks: The demise of the "dead cert" reward
Job satisfaction: Doing it with a smile
Career paths: We want to stay
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