As we enter the new year thoughts inevitably turn to wondering what this will hold in store for us. Career and money are always a top concern particularly in international contracting circles due to the somewhat unpredictable nature of the work. Therefore we take this opportunity to review salary fluctuations in 2015 in order to hopefully help predict what 2016 holds in store.
Although 2015 was a bad year for IT contractors in the banking sector due to various banks forcing pay cuts on contractors in an attempt to cut costs, overall reports have been encouraging for most contractors with fourteen out of sixteen of the major IT contractor skills paying out more than in 2014.
On average this equates to an overall increase of 3.3%.The areas of expertise that showed the highest increases were as follows;
- Senior IT Management – 12%
- Application Analysts – 9%
The consistent increases in wages for IT contractors for the last few years running has been attributed mainly due to demand. Although globally many sectors have experienced financial difficulties IT contracting has seen high levels of growth due to non-technology-focused companies implementing IT-focused projects in order to develop in this digital age.
IT contracting is not the only area to witness increases in wages, Finance contractors salaries also increased for the third year running. Finance contractors also reported significant decreases in gaps between assignments.
Engineering contractors also saw some increases, although oil and gas engineers are expected to feel a definitely pinch now with the price of oil continuing to fall and ever increasing investment into renewable energy.
