As the employment market is moving at breakneck speed, our valuable reports have evolved in-kind to be an ongoing reflection of key happenings impacting critical industries. Consider this your go-to source for the latest in salary, fee, and industry benchmark data when hiring for critical talent and creating your most competitive offers yet. We’ll regularly update these core analytics ensuring you always have the latest data at your fingertips. This report focused on Information Technology, is particularly interesting because it’s both a job category and a high volume industry in the BountyJobs Marketplace. In addition to sharing vertical-specific data, we’ve also interjected some general market data for comparison. That way, you can see how your agency recruitment metrics stack up against others in IT as well as the market as a whole.

THE DATASET: AT-A-GLANCE

IT jobs are spread across all industries, so they follow a vacancy pattern similar to that of the general market. They remain fairly consistent throughout the year with the common end-of-year dip. In 2017 we saw a lift in Q1, showing employers were back at it right after the holidays to secure that critical talent.

While highest concentration of Information Technology job postings in 2017 were found on the West coast of the United States, jobs were also spread across the country and abroad, with postings in 31 states, Canada and the European Union.

The largest search volume in 2017 within IT job categories was for Developers. Companies across industry verticals sent jobs for Developers out to search.

SALARIES & FEES: YEAR-OVER-YEAR TRENDS

From Financial Services to Healthcare, companies across all verticals are sourcing candidates from the same talent pool for their critical IT roles. While some industries are accustomed to paying top dollar for specialized talent (e.g. Pharmaceutical and Biotechnology companies pay average salaries that are 22% higher than the general market), employers filling IT roles can pay mid-market rates and still fill their roles.

However, IT roles cover a broad set of job categories, with a broad range of skill sets and corresponding salaries. For this reason, salaries and fees are a crucial leverage point for use in securing top IT talent.

Employers need to stay up to date on salary and fee data for the specific IT roles they seek to fill so they can be competitive in the talent market. An organization that pays below industry averages for salary and fees is likely losing qualified candidates. Conversely, an organization that pays above industry averages may be spending more than they have to get the right candidate.

As noted previously, IT jobs are spread across industries, and because of this the corresponding salaries and fees tend to follow market trends fairly closely. However, the average IT salary was $128,907 in 2017—just over 14 percent higher than the average market salary.

After a significant jump in average salaries in 2015, IT salaries came back down in 2016 . Despite this recent drop, average salaries are still trending upward. Agency fees have also trended slightly upward since 2010 — leveling off in the last 3 years around 20%.

SALARIES: LAST 12 MONTHS

FEES: LAST 12 MONTHS

The approach to fees for IT roles varies significantly fromthe market at large. While over half of the jobs in the overall market pay fees between 20 and 25 percent of the candidate’s first year salary, 92% of IT roles fall into this fee category. Additionally, the use of premium fees is a relatively rare practice for employers filling these roles, as fees rarely exceed 25 percent…though 2017 did see an increase to 6%, up from 2% in 2016.

PERFORMANCE

Once you’ve determined salaries and fees, when can you reasonably expect to see resumes, interview candidates, and hire your new employee?

Comparing your company’s internal recruiting data to benchmarks can be useful to help you measure your agency performance and identify areas for improvement. If, for instance, your first interviews take longer than the market average, consider running an intake session to become better aligned with your agencies.

Keep in mind that there are a variety of factors that affect search activities and performance metrics. Some factors may be out of your control, such as a scarcity of talent in your area. Beyond that, every company’s hiring process is unique, and your performance metrics should reflect that.

BEST PRACTICES: BOUNTYJOBS IT RECOMMENDATIONS