Tech Salaries Nearly Flat in 2009

Private sector technology professionals received nearly flat salaries in 2009, with many citing a decrease in satisfaction with salaries and non-compensation incentives, according to a new survey by Dice.com.

Dice's 2009-2010 annual salary survey found that technology salaries increased by average of only 1 percent, to $78,845, last year. Technology professionals in the Washington, D.C., area saw the largest average increase of 4 percent, raising average salaries to $89,014. Those in the government and defense sector enjoyed an even higher increase of 4.4 percent, Dice found.

The survey also found that Silicon Valley also remains a top metro area for technology professionals, with a reported average IT salary of $96,299. New York City reported a 1.5 percent increase in average salaries to $86,710.

Still, nearly half (47 percent) of technology professionals said their employers also are doing nothing to keep them motivated. Only 19 percent of tech workers said they are being offered more interesting or challenging work assignments, while just 14 percent are benefiting from more flexible work hours. Only 24 percent of technology professionals said they received a bonus last year.

Advanced Business Application Programming, or ABAP, remained the top-paid tech skill in 2009, with an average salary of $115,916. This was followed by Service Oriented Architecture, with an average salary of $107,827, and Extract Transform and Load, with an average salary of $105,844. The highest paid titles include IT management ($114,874), information architecture ($105,247), project manager ($103,437), software engineer ($91,342), and database administrator ($91,283).

How do your skills, salary and non-compensation incentives stack up? My guess is that while government salaries might not measure up, the job security and other non-monetary motivators, including challenging work assignments and flexible schedules, make up for it. Do the survey results make you more satisfied with your government IT job, or do they make you want to jump ship for the private sector?