International
IT Managers' Global Salary Ranking: Mercer Survey
By Finfacts Team
Oct 8, 2005, 20:48

Eight of the world’s ten highest-paying countries for information technology (IT) managers are in Western Europe, according to a new survey by Mercer Human Resource Consulting. The survey found that Swiss managers are paid the most, followed by those in Germany and Denmark. 

The survey, covering over 5,300 companies worldwide, found that the average total pay for IT managers in Switzerland is US$161,900 a year, including base pay and bonuses. Managers in Germany earn US$126,700 on average, while those in Denmark can expect to receive US$116,000. Japan and Hong Kong are the only countries outside Western Europe that rank in the top ten for pay, where IT managers earn an average of US$112,300 and US$97,600 a year respectively.

IT managers in the UK and US rank 7th and 14th and earn US$105,700 and US$89,100 respectively.

The survey, which provides pay information for various IT roles in 36 countries globally, is used to help multinational organisations benchmark salaries and allocate global IT budgets.

Stephen Cahill , European Partner at Mercer, commented: “Experienced IT managers are highly sought-after in Europe and there is strong competition to attract and retain skilled employees. Multinational organisations rely heavily on their global IT operations, so they need to ensure their pay is competitive.”

The survey found that, at the other extreme, IT managers in Vietnam, the Philippines, and India receive the lowest pay, at US$20,100, US$20,700, and US$26,500 a year respectively.

Mr Cahill added: “Although pay in Asia and Eastern Europe tends to be much lower, it would be difficult for companies to outsource the IT manager role to these regions. Instead, we may see a migration of IT skills from lower paying countries to places in Western Europe and North America.”

IT support supervisors

The report also examined pay levels for IT support supervisors. Again, Switzerland is the highest-paying country for this position, where employees earn US$120,500 on average. IT supervisors in Germany and Japan earn US$91,600 and US$87,900 a year respectively, while those in Belgium can expect to receive US$86,100.

The lowest-paying countries are Vietnam and the Philippines, where IT supervisors earn US$7,000 and US$9,700 respectively.