The survey, conducted on behalf of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) by remuneration analysis house CSi, revealed that ICT companies in Australia were only planning to award staff moderate salary increases averaging 3.7 percent during the period spanning August 2003-August 2004. Big rises in remuneration would be limited to outperforming employees able to take advantage of incentive schemes.
AIIA executive director Rob Durie told ZDNet Australia that at many ICT companies, "increasingly, only high performing employees are getting increases," while lesser performers were standing still.
CSi said the forecast ICT industry increase was in line with the expected all-industries average salary increase of 3.8 percent for the June 2003-June 2004 period.
For the August 2002-August 2003 period, ICT companies awarded average base salary increases of 3.6 percent, CSi said.
During the 12 months leading to August 2001, which encompassed the height of the tech boom, staff at ICT companies received an average increase of 8.1 percent in base salary and 8.8 percent in total remuneration.
According to the August 2003 survey, sales led the way in achieving base salary and total remuneration increases over the past 12 months, at five percent and 5.2 percent respectively.
"Others getting above average pay increases included senior executives and finance and admin staff, whereas professional services staff received below average [base salary] increases at 2.5 percent," Durie told ZDNet Australia.
CSi said in a statement that, over the 12 months leading to August 2003, 11 percent of organisations had implemented a new sales commission scheme, while 70 percent had altered existing schemes.
"Of these organisations, 30 percent have done this to increase employee productivity and 26 percent to enhance organisational profitability".
Senior executives received a 4.1 percent base salary increase and a 4.6 percent increase in their total remuneration, while finance and administration employees received increases of four percent in their base salary and 4.4 percent in their total remuneration.
CSi remuneration and client specialist, Natasha Edwards, told ZDNet Australia the total remuneration package for a new sales employee had risen by 2.3 percent over the past 12 months, up from the 0.5 percent figure reported in a similar survey conducted in March. This indicated that the market -- after being weighted heavily in favour of employers since late 2001 -- had started to even up.
CSi compiled its report after surveying the AIIA's 112 members, the second such survey completed this year.
Durie said that voluntary attrition rates were also starting to stabilise, falling to 5.8 percent of the ICT workforce from the 6.7 percent from the survey released in March, while involuntary attrition rates had slid to 3.7 percent, down from 5.2 percent during the March survey.
