North-South pay divide is narrowing for IT professionals

It is no longer grim up North when it comes to IT salaries

The North-South pay divide is narrowing for IT professionals as workers in the North are experiencing increasing pay in comparison to their southern peers, according to data gathered by E-Skills and analysed by IT staffing company, ReThink Recruitment.

Although, in most professions, Northerner’s pay fell by an additional two per cent in 2007 compared to salaries earned in London, the IT professional’s pay increased in the North nearly 30 per cent faster than in the South, revealed the research.

ReThink Recruitment said the change is occurring because of the widespread uptake of flexible working that is eroding traditional geographical constraints.

Also with more technology businesses and government departments moving up North, demand for IT professionals has exceeded supply causing employers to offer increased pay packets to lure staff from other regions, the recruitment firm said. The Lyons review, which recommended Government move central offices to outside of London is likely to continue the this trend.

The BBC, the Bank of New York and the Royal Bank of Scotland are all expanding operations in Manchester.

“At the top of the skills ladder the differences in pay between London and Northern cities like Manchester are even more negligible,” said Jon Butterfield, ReThink Recruitment managing director. “Developers skilled in the latest Web technoogies, for example, can earn almost as much in Manchester and the cost of living is considerably cheaper,” Butterfield added.

However, ReThink added that London is still monopolising the highest salary IT jobs in front office financial services, although Butterfield added that “the credit crunch may afford Northern techies the opportunity to close the pay gap still further on their Southern peers.”

The figures are from E-Skills, based on the ONS Labour Force Survey, which collates data from hunbdreds of thousands of ICT workers.

The following categories of ICT professionals are included in the research - IT managers, software developers, IT strategy and planning professionals, IT user support technicians, Telecommunications engineers, Computer engineers (installation and maintenance) and Line repairers and cable jointers