gobbledonk Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 Has anyone else surveyed some of the salary surveys out there and thought 'If only I earned anything *like* that !'. The simple fact is that there are so many variables in the equation : the city you live in, the cost of living and whether you are a permanent staff member or contracting. Add to that the fact that the employers are in the drivers seat at the moment, and I have to ask if ANY of us have advanced in salary terms in the last 2-3 years ? Whilst I admit that I took a $20K drop in 'upfront' pay to come here, homes are $150-200K cheaper, our super fund is awesome and the training options available to me simply were not an option in my old job. For those of you in the right place, you may well have continued to get pay rises, but I believe that you are in the minority. Thoughts ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
think_too_mut Posted August 25, 2003 Report Share Posted August 25, 2003 >The simple fact is that there are so many variables in the equation : the city you live in, the cost of living and whether you are a permanent staff member or contracting. Even simpler than that: the companies are navigating through the slow business. The IT Dysneyland of 99/2000 won't repeat in a short term. Myself, lost my job 8 months ago. Got another one, it's been 4 months until all is sorted out. The very same company, the very same job position. Pay rise? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinod Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 Forget the pay hikes, if you have a job and ur getting a pay check it more then, one can ask for, in the present IT industry. My current pay is down by 35% during the last 18 months The telecom is in deep shit in US and the only place it is growing is Asia and I'm thinking of moving out of US & plan to relocate to India or China. cheers vinod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spirit_of_town_hall Posted August 26, 2003 Report Share Posted August 26, 2003 With all respect India has a huge pool of indiginous talent which they can employ at about a 1/5th of the cost of a US guy. I think to land a job in Asia you would have to have a very unique talent or accept enhanced local rates. STH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iono Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 You got that right, many months ago when I was in telecom a day didn't go by where I didn't see someone in our Collocation facility from India (in the united states). To top it off Microsoft will be conducting a ceremony next week renaming their main campus to Little India or is it India will be calling it's self Microsoft training and outsourcing land :: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted August 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 Guys, As angry as we all are about outsourcing, I believe that we have to accept part of the blame for the incredible growth in offshore operations. When things were going well through the 90's, I remember reading a book by Ed Yourdon called 'The Death of the American Programmer'. A lot of people pooh-poohed Ed's predictions that Western 'white-collar' jobs would be moved offshore, even though it was already happening around them. Ed's message was that the industry needed to start delivering on its promises - improve everything from systems design through project planning and testing - to make it financially viable for employers to keep local staff. I also remember hearing something re industrial rumblings in India - when you have a Masters Degree plus 5 years experience and IBM are paying you 1/5 of the salary they paid for the same job in the US, there is likely to be some fallout. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinod Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 I'am of Indian orgin, ........ a lot of US based companies in India are looking for US based guys to head there operations in India. Salary wise at the top level there like 25% less then US but even with this cut it turns out a huge saving in India. My current job as VP Operations was pretty good with the salary in US but after the cuts it is no longer worth slogging your ass where you are responsible for the business.... A lot of US companies in sw development are moving to India and the current hot industry in India is BPO / Call centres where large fortune 100 companies are moving there business to India where it can be done at a fraction of costs. India also in ideal time zone to service the US markets. cheers vinod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted August 27, 2003 Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 HI, I am between projects now and our company carries certain people with some specila skill sets so I am just resting. A few people (in my company) came after me but one concern was my salary is higher than what they bid. Because of the policy of the company on keeping certain people we get the normal pay increase, however, all our proposals are a bit lower than 2 years ago for each position. In my area (VA and DC), the salaries seem to be stagnant but housing and cost of living just keep moving up, I don't know what will happen in a year or 2. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobbledonk Posted August 27, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2003 In my area (VA and DC), the salaries seem to be stagnant but housing and cost of living just keep moving up, I don't know what will happen in a year or 2. YES ! Thank you, Jasmine ! Finally, someone in another part of the world has echoed the same situation that we are seeing here in Oz ! In addition to a property market which is going ballistic right down the Eastern seaboard, things like food have gone up drastically over the past 2 years, yet advertised salaries, across a range of professions, are woeful. I can only put it down to the fact that both parents work - how else can they afford their lifestyles ? It will only take a 1% rise in interest rates combined with a slowdown in property, and many of the people with $400K plus loans are in serious shit. One of the first things I ask myself when I take out a loan is 'Could I still afford the repayments if interest rates went back to 1980's levels ?'. Sadly, this sort of caution seems to have flown straight out the window. One of the interesting aspects of the IT boom is that it has skewed the skillset currently available to employers. When IT boomed in the 90's, everyone rushed off to Uni to get Computer Science and Electrical Engineering degrees. The net result was that less people went into trades, and we now have electrical contractors complaining that they have to pay their electricians $100K pa ! Becoming an electrician is not an overnight process, and the apprentices coming through now must be doing handstands when they see the money on offer. The oversupply in IT, meanwhile, has seen employers in the box seat. One of the Windows techs who works here is off to Brissie to take up a job with a large software vendor (same role, different town), and will be paid the princely sum of $34K. He has a degree and 3 years experience - he accepts that initial salary isnt everything, but its still indicative of the kind of money employers are prepared to put on the table. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jasmine Posted August 28, 2003 Report Share Posted August 28, 2003 [color:"red"] and will be paid the princely sum of $34K. He has a degree and 3 years experience - he accepts that initial salary isnt everything, but its still indicative of the kind of money employers are prepared to put on the table. [/color] I know what you mean. Just yesterday, a manager called me telling me that a client drooled over my resume and wanted me. BUT, she said, could we ask you to take less? Err, I said "May be $3,000/yr. less but not $30,000". We will see, at the meantime, I have got my rest now (4th week in between projects) so I just volunteered to go to help a HelpDesk guy installing software into laptops, I will have fun!!! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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