ICT salaries in Australia have dropped over the past year, according to a salary survey by the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA).
The survey, which assessed the salaries of more than 38,000 employees, found that the current same incumbent movement value of 5.5% (at total remuneration cost) has fallen from a figure of 5.9% in March 2007.
AIIA CEO Sheryle Moon said this trend reflects a change in ICT budget management, in response to pending broad economic troubles.
"It is clear that responsible management of budgets remains a key priority for the ICT industry," Moon said.
"In an uncertain economic climate, technology companies are increasingly looking for creative ways to improve their employee value proposition in order to attract and retain the talent they need."
According to the report, the number of staff leaving their organisation is at around 15%, which the AIIA labels as "healthy".
"Low attrition rates reflect the fact that industry workplaces are healthy and busy: when people are productive and engaged, they are not actively seeking jobs," Moon said.
The AIIA said several factors — potential inflation, IR legislation change, wage speculation and the new federal government — are converging to cause delays in funding proposals and new initiatives.
"The current economic climate means that it is imperative for executives, line managers and HR professionals to understand the actual movements in ICT salaries over the last six months in order to have informative discussions with employees and to budget responsibly into the future," Moon said.