CSSA devises pension plan

With job mobility at an all-time high, the CSSA is helping IT professionals who have been saddled with next-to-useless pension plans accumulated during frequent career moves.

The association, which represents 80% of UK computer companies, has helped independent financial adviser Elliott Bayley to come up with a group personal pension plan designed specifically for IT professionals working in CSSA member organisations.

The key benefit of the new scheme is that pensions can be transferred without penalty when IT professionals move from one participating company to another.

'Job mobility is a major issue in the IT industry because most CSSA members lose 10% of their staff every year,' explained John Sandford, a director at Elliott Bayley who helped to devise the scheme.

'There's a 15% increase in staff annually and some estimates show that each employee under 30 has already changed employer at least once.'

As the skill shortage intensifies, people are staying in jobs for even less time. Some software firms are reportedly giving salary rises every three months in a bid to hang on to key staff.

According to Sandford, people get frustrated with picking up bits and pieces of company pension plans which they have to cash in after two years.

'If people join a scheme and move before two years is up, they also lose all the employer contributions they have gained,' he said. 'We are trying to create a totally generic scheme that anyone in the IT industry can contribute to.'

He added: 'This is certainly the first industry specific pension scheme in the UK, and quite possibly the world.'

CSSA director Rob Wirszycz is backing the scheme and will be writing to all member companies, telling them about its benefits.