Trade Group: US Software Developer Wages Fell 2% Last Year

First time accepted submitter russotto points out the claim of industry group TechAmerican Foundation (reported by Computerworld) that "wages for the software industry are falling, not rising. Wages fell 2% to $99,000 in 2012." Averages are one thing; the article points out though that wages vary vastly within the industry, and that some jobs are harder to fill (thus, better paid) than others. An excerpt: "Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco Associates, a research firm that also analyzes IT wage and employment trends, cited a number of reason for the decline in wages for software professionals. First, technology is becoming easier to implement without having an IT professional, he said. Also, the option of turning to outsourcing creates less pressure to increase wages. As the recession continues, companies continue 'to look at productivity and will often look to hire individuals who are lower cost employees,' said Janulaitis. That could include displaced baby boomer workers who have been out of work for some time and 'will take a lower paying job just to get back into the workforce.'"

Original study

[phantomfive]

Here's a link to the original study [techameric...dation.org]. It's not clear where they are getting the "wages fell 2%" statistic, but in California, the average annual wage was $123,900.

Re:Sad, but true

[cranky_chemist]

No, you need to change jobs, period.

According to this site: http://www.westportone.com/candidate/counteroffer.htm [westportone.com] :

"According to national surveys of employees that accept counter-offers, 50-80 percent voluntarily leave their employer within six months of accepting the counter-offer because of unkept promises. The majority of the balance of employees that accept counter-offers involuntarily leave their current employers within twelve months of accepting the counter-offer (terminated, fired, laid off, etc.)."

So, basically, if you go to your boss with another offer in hand and accept a counteroffer, he or she is going to screw you over simply because they can. And that's how the big sharks swim in the deep end of the pool. If you want better working conditions and/or more money, change jobs. The only exception is if you work in academia, where you have the protections of tenure.

See also:

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/outside-voices-careers/2012/03/26/why-you-shouldnt-take-a-counteroffer [usnews.com]

http://ask.slashdot.org/story/02/06/13/0615238/is-it-wrong-to-accept-an-employment-counter-offer [slashdot.org]

Re:Sad, but true

[HornWumpus]

Your boss was always going to screw you over. His plan didn't change when he was forced to pay you more. They will play some sort of face saving game, give you a new title and claim they are paying you more for the additional responsibility. The end game for you is to take his job outright, then move on to greener pastures.

You certainly can't afford to relax. If you don't more or less have the employer by the short and curlies they wouldn't have counter offered. As long as that doesn't change, nothing has changed.

When you next go looking for a job, your current compensation will be higher and you will have a bigger war chest (unless you spend it all like a moron).

However, if after accepting a counteroffer, they start a new person as your 'understudy', they are already planning on firing you. Some companies are like that, others aren't. If your company is like that then you should truly _extort_ them while you've got them by the balls.

Re:Time for a union/guild?

[benhattman]

I am a programmer, and I work in a union. It's actually quite nice, and it floors me that so many people have convinced themselves it's a bad thing. Here's what we get.

1) Overtime pay. It's not as good as regular overtime pay, but it is greater than your base hourly rate, and it does discourage your employer from working you overtime unless they honestly need it. I have currently negotiated with my manager a base schedule of only 35 hours a week; not common but I have known several people working similar schedules.
2) Scheduled annual pay raises. Not huge raises, usually in the ballpark of 2%-7%, but very respectable raises and everyone in the union gets them.
3) Protections with regard to leave. E.g. things like parental leave and other leave of absences.
4) Above average health insurance. My wife works for the state, and my insurance is better than hers. Take that for what you want.

What we don't get. Our offices generally suck. This is probably more an issue of this being an older company with older office buildings, rather than having anything to do with the union. The union could negotiate working conditions, but as our union is spread out among a great number of building sites, it's not a uniform concern. Also, the union doesn't negotiate for hiring standards.