2024 | Tech Salary Guide
For Employers and Candidates
2 0 2 4 Tech Tech Salary Salary Guide Guide For Employers and CandidatesFor Employers and Candidates United States ///United States /// For Employers and Candidates United States ///
INTRODUCTION The State of Tech Employment 2024 is an opportunity for tech workers and companies to grow and evolve in exciting ways as technology continues to Contents advance and change at a rapid pace. Despite 2023's ups and downs, we see the strength and 03 The State of Tech Employment resiliency of the IT community, which continues to optimize Tech Employment Trends the way work is done amid digital transformation, work- Tech Talent Demand in 2024 place changes and technological growth in areas like arti昀椀- Workplace Enviornment cial intelligence. Unsurprisingly, overall tech unemployment rates remain far lower than other sectors, and the talent gap 14 Emerging Technology: AI remains high. 18 Advice from the Experts To continue this path to growth, it is crucial to have an For Both Hiring Managers & Tech Workers For Hiring Managers innate understanding of the IT job market and the value For Tech Workers different positions provide. Having that knowledge is vital to your success in 2024, and we hope this report and our spe- 21 Conclusion cialized tech teams can help make it as smooth as possible 22 Tech Salary Ranges to navigate. 31 Methodology Ma琀琀 Milano President, Motion Recruitment MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 02
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT The State of Tech Employment Tech Employment Trends At the start of 2023, the tech world was preparing itself for the worst. Fears of hyperin昀氀ation, smaller pro昀椀ts, uncertainty about the future and more had tech leaders predicting a full recession inside the IT economy, with mass layoffs and company closures among a sea change inside the industry. At the end of 2022 heading into the 昀椀rst quarter of 2023, some of this came to fruition. Seemingly every day there was a new headline about layoffs in different companies across North America. In fact, the start of 2023 saw the biggest wave of layoffs in the past decade, with 150% more layoffs in the 昀椀rst half of 2023 versus the year prior. Tech Layoffs in 2022-2023 Source: layoffs.fyi, 2023 100,000 300 Employees Laid Off 75,000 Companies w/Layoffs es 200 s ye 50,000 ff yo Emplo 100 La 25,000 0 0 JAN FEB MAR APR MAYJUN JUL AUGJSEP OCTNOV DEC AN FEB MAR APR MAYJUN JULAUG 2022 2023 Time However, when looking deeper into the numbers, it shows that Even with these seemingly the IT economy was far more resilient throughout the year than catastrophic numbers, layoffs what was predicted, with tech unemployment rates still far below only rolled the tech industry the national rate, reaching below 2% in the summer and bumping back by 8% of the post- pandemic growth. slightly up in the fall to 2.1%. 03
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Tech Industry Employment Unemployment Rate Trending Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 5.8 14.0 National Rate Tech Occupation Rate 12.0 5.4 10.0 ojectedojected8.0 5.0 prpr 6.0 4.6 4.0 2.0 4.2 0 G T V C N Y G T V C N Y G N Y V N Y V N Y V N Y V N Y V AUSEPOCNODE JAFEBMARAPRMAJUNJULAUSEPOCNODEJAFEBMARAPRMAJUNJULAU JAMARMAJULSEPNOJAMARMAJULSEPNOJAMARMAJULSEPNOJAMARMAJULSEPNOJAMARMAJULSEPNO 2021 2022 2023 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 There continues to be a tech talent shortage across the United States, with nearly 4 million tech jobs available, and projections show that the United States tech industry is projected to grow 5.4% in 2023. That being said, because of the unease in the market, overall tech salaries saw a very modest increase this year of 2% on average, versus the nearly exponential growth trends over the past decade. Tech Layoff Analysis 2020-2023 Source: Tech Layoff Analysis, 2020-2023 by skills.ai 30K 25K 20K 15K 10K 5K 0K Amazon Meta Google Salesforce Microsoft Phillips Ericsson Flink Uber Micron An important part of the story of 2023 – and what we can learn from it in 2024 – is who was part of the tech layoffs, both company and personnel-wise. Accounting for 42% of all tech layoffs this year, FAANG companies (Meta, Apple, Amazon, Net昀氀ix, Alphabet) were the biggest sources of job loss. This must be put into context, as these companies, along with Microsoft, have been on a steady hiring spree since 2019. Compared to the number of people hired by these companies since 2019, the lay- offs of 2023 only account for 8% of that workforce. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 04
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Tech Company Headcount Large Tech Companies Employees 2019-2023 2019 -2022 Source: 2023 Layoffs At Big Tech Companies by Crunchbase News Source: 2023 Layoffs At Big Tech Companies by Crunchbase News 250K Amazon Microsoft 200K Meta 150K Alphabet Alphabet 100K Meta Microsoft 50K Salesforce Salesforce Headcount Increase (2019-2022) Headcount Decrease (2022-2023) 0K 2019 2020 2021 2022 Additionally, while tech companies were clearly letting people go in 2023, it was not necessarily tech workers being the ones looking for new employment. Internal recruitment teams, HR and marketing were hit harder as opposed to tech roles. Where FAANG Talent is Going Next Source: State of Talent Report 2023 Takeaways by SignalFire ENGINEERS WHO LEFT 6.4% FAANG FOR EARLY APPLE STAGE STARTUPS 3% ANG 175 engineers 79% of tech FA 27.8% PRE SEED workers laid off HIRED AT 1% in 2023 found ANOTHER AMAZON/AWS 60 engineers their next job in 3 FROM FAANG MICROSOFT 9.3% ENGINEERS LAIDOFF 4.5% 590 engineers SEED months or less. 7 269 engineers 2.1% 127 engineers GOOGLE SERIES A 11% 3.3% 18,98 652 engineers 196 engineers None of this is to diminish the number of layoffs that many had to deal with in 2023. Estimates put the number of tech workers laid off at over 230,000. Those are people who had to deal with the uncertainty of trying to 昀椀nd a new position while reading article after article about how the industry is crumbling. What the middle of 2023 showed is the resiliency of the IT industry and the people inside it. 05
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Workers Laid Off by Department Survey Questions: How long did it Source: Interviewing.io's Layoff Data Analysis take you to 昀椀nd your current job? Source: ZipRecruiter Survey on Job Search Trends 50% 50% 48% 0 to 1 37% 40% month 30% 1 to 3 42% 30% months 20% 24% 3 to 6 20% months 16% 10% 13% 12% 10% 6 to 12 5% months 4% 0% ting n CSM tions e ecruiting Finance a Science AM/ R ecruiting) Mark / Oper ta s e Da l a on-R e Engineering oduct & Desig S N Pr ar Share of respondents who last worked in technology tw HR ( f So and were laid off or fired from their previous job Top Reasons Tech Workers Decided to Of the people who reported being laid off, Start a Company A昀琀er Being Laid Off 79% of them found a new job within three Source: 2022 Clarify Capital Survey months. Talent reabsorption continue at an all-time high, and according to our recruit- ers, people weren’t just taking jobs out of Men Women Overall desperation. Instead, many of these job For professional growth 55% 58% seekers trusted their skills and abilities, 61% 48% were unwilling to take substantial pay cuts For more money 55% 52% and were comfortable waiting to 昀椀nd a To create something new 47% 49% position that 昀椀t their needs best. 52% To lead others 44% 47% Additionally, a new contributor to the tech 51% talent gap emerged. If those who were laid To be their own boss 44% 47% off couldn’t 昀椀nd a role that met their ex- 51% pectations, many decided to make one for For greater opportunities 41% 43% themselves by forming their own company. 45% Job prospects looked bleak 40% 43% 63% of tech workers that were laid off said 45% that they started their own company within Not fulfilled working for others 34% 36% 12 months of losing their job, with 93% of 38% that group directly competing against their Not getting paid enough 34% 35% former employer. 36% Unable to find the right position 34% 35% Many of those who started a new enter- 35% 23% prise didn’t do it due to a lack of other Difficulty getting hired 24% 23% options, with only 23% saying they were having dif昀椀culty getting hired, but rather to Share of tech workers who say they decided to either grow their skills, make more money, start a new business due to each factor or just create something new. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 06
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Looking Forward to 2024 Tech Talent Demand in 2024 Taking into account the events of 2023, the fact still remains that the demand for high-quality tech talent has never been higher. On the business side, as 2023 progressed, concerns about hyperin- 昀氀ation were proven unfounded in the United States and interest rate heights began to slow. Many companies in the S&P 500 beat Wall Street expectations, growing revenue and expanding pro昀椀ts. Business Areas with Greatest Skill Gap Source: Mind the [Skills] Gap by McKinsey & Company Data Analytics 43% IT, mobile, and/or web design management 26% Executive management 25% HR and talent management 23% Sales and marketing operations 22% Product and/or service design 22% R&D 18% Frontline management of operational staff 16% Customer service 15% Financial and risk management 14% Channel management (including e-commerce) 14% Product and manufacturing operations 13% Sourcing, procurement, and/or supply-chain management 9% Top Challenges in Recruiting Tech Employees Source: MIT Technology Review Insights, HCL Tech Candidates lack necessary skills or experience 64% Overall shortage of candidates 56% Difficulty meeting candidates’ salary expectations 54% Candidates lack necessary credentials 31% Difficulty meeting candidates’ nonsalary expectations 30% Candidates are not a good fit for our organization 29% 07
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Many non-tech companies were less affected by the conditions of early 2023 that led to layoffs, con- tinuing to grow and enhance their technical resources. 71% of HR professionals outside of tech com- panies said they are hiring for growth, with 52% saying they are back昀椀ll hiring. This gives tech workers the opportunity to move to tech roles inside companies that might not be on the cutting edge but offer stable jobs at levels of income that are expected for those roles. Critical Skills for Tech Functions Source: 2023 Global Technology Leadership Study by Deloitte Leadership (e.g., inspiration, communication, executive presence) 54% Problem-solving and decision-making 47% Relationship skills (e.g., influence, partnerships, collaboration) 44% Creative and innovative thinking 41% Data science and analytics 40% HR Pros and the Pace of Hiring Source: Workforce and Learning Trends 2023 by CompTIA Growth Hiring 71% Backfill Hiring 52% Read more: What IT Professionals want Hiring Freezes 19% from their jobs in 2024. Layoffs 24% Separations due to Skills Gaps 23% You may have noticed that in the summer of 2023, there was an unusual increase in the amount of PTO taken – with an 11% increase of vacation time off – making the hiring process slower in the summer. While there are a number of contributors, statistics have shown a noticeable increase in burnout, as companies that had layoffs earlier in the year force workers to “do more with less.” Additionally, the stormy clouds of uncertainty from 2021 to even the beginning of 2023 subsid- ed, so workers previously fearful of losing their jobs could feel comfortable taking PTO. When the seemingly industry-wide summer vacation ended, there was an uptick in tech hiring – particularly of in-demand roles. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 08
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Great Lockdown Accelerates Transformation Source: Microsoft Data Science, "Digitazation Capacity of the World Economy" 190M 1M Privacy and trust 6M Cyber security 127M 149M 20M Data analysis, machine 90M New jobs learning, and AI by 2025 23M Cloud and data roles 66M 41M 51M 98M Software development 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Continuing the trends of the past few years, companies are on the constant lookout for cyber secu- rity talent, both inside and outside of IT companies. A sector that has been at or near zero percent Developer 54% unemployment rate, cyber security will remain one of the most in-demand skill sets in tech. IT Management 46% However, speci昀椀cally inside tech companies, developers and IT management are the roles that are DevOps 40% being most recruited. For those businesses looking to build and scale a product, these roles are what Engineer 37% hiring managers need most. Security Professional 30% Project Manager 28% Data Engineer 27% Developers and IT Managers Most Recruited Roles Systems Administrator 26% Source: Linux Foundation: 2023 Tech Talent Survey Network Administrator 26% Data Scientist 24% Despite the concerns and con- Architect 23% 54% Developer sternations that 昀氀ooded the DevSecOps 20% 46% start of 2023, the tech industry IT Management Executive Management 12% 40% quickly stabilized and is still one DevOps GitOps 7% 37% of the best sectors to work in the Engineer United States economy. For those Other 1% 30% Security Professional in the IT industry who are looking Don't know or not sure 2% 28% Project Manager for work after being laid off or Data Engineer 27% want to progress in their careers, Systems Administrator 26% there are steps they can take to Network Administrator 26% improve their candidacy during Data Scientist 24% their search. Things like upskilling, Architect 23% seeing how new advancements in DevSecOps 20% technologies (like arti昀椀cial intelli- gence) are impacting your profes- Executive Management 12% sion, and possibly compromising GitOps 7% with employers when it comes to Other 1% working from home. Don't know or not sure 2% 09
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT In Of昀椀ce, Hybrid, Or Remote? The Workplace Debate Continues into 2024 Workplace Environment Since 2021, there has been a continuing debate on working from home versus a hybrid schedule versus full-time in the of昀椀ce. While the tech industry continues to be ahead of other sections of the economy in allowing workers to fully work from home, even in IT there has been a clawback from businesses wanting employees out of their homes and back into the of昀椀ce. Share of Companies That Allow Full Remote Work Source: Flex Report: 2023 Tech Industry Deep Dive All industries Tech
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT Top 8 Remote Jobs in US Source: Remote.com's "Industries with the Most Remote Opportunities" Rank Job Role US % jobs that are remote 1 Web Developer 36.93 2 Software Engineer 36.16 3 Data Scientist 30.5 4 Copywriter 28.88 5 Architect 26.75 6 Account Manager 24.99 7 Cyber Security 23.21 8 Data Analyst 21.76 When talking to recruiters, one important issue that was brought up frequently was tech workers moving out of cities and away from company of昀椀ces, assuming that full work from home would continue inde昀椀nitely. However, once demands for returning to the of昀椀ce were put into place, those who moved had an untenable commute. A Gallup survey found that 52% of those who prefer working remotely listed avoiding commuting time as a top reason they don’t want to go into the of昀椀ce. How Much do Tech Workers Go In Of昀椀ce? Source: LinkedIn survey data via Motion Recruitment 49% How to a琀琀ract talent in 2024: Flexibility. 19% Read more on how 17% to build a 昀氀exible 14% workplace for tech workers. 0 Days 1 or 2 Days 3 or 4 Days 5 Days in Office in Office in Office in Office Workers themselves are con昀氀icted about a return to the of昀椀ce, as only 28% of workers said their company is making it worthwhile to come into the of昀椀ce, and over 50% of frontline workers believe that being fully in of昀椀ce was ideal for career advancement. That same sur- vey showed that 62% of senior business leaders believe that there’s a proximity bias be- tween the in-person and remote/hybrid workforce. 11
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT What Tech Workers Consider Most Important in a New Role Source: Morning Consult's "What Tech Workers Want to Do Next" Salary or Hourly Pay 56% Job Security/Employment Stability 56% Benefits 55% Work-life Balance 51% Commuting Distance/Time 49% Competence of Company Leadership 48% Interesting Work 48% Ability to Work Remotely Some of the Time 46% Company's Work Culture 45% Work Aligned with Values 43% Ability to Work Entirely Remote 42% The Company's Mission 41% Company's Reputation with Peers 41% Where does that leave tech workers and companies? As one of our recruiters said, both sides need to be able to compromise, and that compromise seems to have landed on a hybrid schedule with expanded local hiring. 75% of all companies are allowing some sort of remote work, with 2.2 days working remotely on average. It does appear that while most workers feel that 5 days in the of昀椀ce is a non-starter for a job and will not accept an offer if it is full-time in the of昀椀ce, many tech workers are becoming more accepting of the hybrid schedule. Interestingly, there is a noticeable difference between generations in their preferences of where they are working, with Gen Z mostly looking to be in the of昀椀ce multiple times a week, while Generation X and Baby Boomers are the age group most likely by far to want to work from home full time. How O昀琀en Workers Want to Work Remotely Source: Hubble HQ's Future of Work Survey Gen Z Millennials Gen X and Baby Boomers 50% 42.2 40% 37.8 36.4 34.5 28.3 30.4 30% esponses 21.4 r 20% % of 14.7 11.1 10% 6.7 8 6.2 7.4 5 2.7 0.70.7 1.6 0.7 0.3 1.1 0% Never Rarely 1-2/Month 1-2/Week 3-4/Week Daily Other MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 12
STATE OF TECH EMPLOYMENT According to interviews with recruiters across the country, companies and hiring managers no longer want to do a nationwide search for most roles. They are willing to shrink the possible candidate pool to get candidates that are local to their of昀椀ce. Even if a role a company is hiring for can be done fully remotely, many are employing a 50 or 100-mile “bubble,” a topic discussed in last year’s guide. This hiring strategy allows for a worker to do their job from home but head into the of昀椀ce as needed for major meetings, team collaboration and workshopping without expenses such as 昀氀ights and hotels. Remote and Hybrid Tech Job Postings Source: CompTIA Tech Jobs Report + Analysis 100 75 50 25 N Y V N Y V N Y V N Y V N Y JA MARMA JULSEPNOJA MARMAJULSEPNO JAMARMA JULSEPNOJA MARMA JULSEPNOJA MARMAJUL 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Companies and managers can keep workers happy while being in the of昀椀ce by making sure there is an added bene昀椀t to being there. Tech workers forced into the of昀椀ce only to sit at a desk with headphones on will see no bene昀椀t of being in the of昀椀ce which could lead to them looking for new opportunities. When going into the of昀椀ce leads to things like one-on-one time with managers to go over career goals and promotional paths, collaborations with team members that are dif昀椀cult to do over Zoom calls or hands-on upskilling opportunities, then employees tend to look at heading to the of昀椀ce more favorably. For both sides, the crux of the issue is continuing the conversation and making sure value is being added. For those looking to work from Looking for a fully home full-time, productivity has to be maintained. Numerous studies remote position in have been launched attempting to measure if those who work from tech? Explore 100% home are more or less productive than in the of昀椀ce, and results have remote roles on our job board. been mixed. Success will come down to knowing how an employee will work best combined with having a management that knows how to bring out the best in their teams, no matter where they are doing their job. 13
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Arti昀椀cial Intelligence in 2024 How is the Next Big Thing Shaking Up the IT Job Market? No topic has been more talked about in tech than the newest advancements in Arti昀椀cial Intelligence and its potential impact not only on the tech job market but on the overall economy. Even though the technology has been around in some way for decades, search trends for the term “Arti昀椀cial Intelligence” hit their all-time high in April 2023, and there continues to be interest from the average population that likely gives this technology more staying power than other recent trends like crypto- currencies and the metaverse – demonstrated in the investment in the market. While debates go on about how tools like ChatGPT might take over the world, when it comes spe- ci昀椀cally to the tech job market, most businesses have both short-term and long-term plans when it comes to AI and Machine Learning technologies. The World Economic Forum’s 2023 Future of Jobs Report says that AI and Big Data will be the big- gest reskilling focus for companies inside the US, and AI and Machine Learning jobs will be the sec- ond highest key role for business transformation in the next 昀椀ve years. 45% of tech leaders are saying that AI spending is a top priority for their company, and data center spending on AI processors will grow 4 times what it is now by 2025. Generative AI Market Revenue ($M) Generative AI Growth by Segment Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence 23-28 CAGR: 57.9% Year Over Year Growth Code Generators 72.9% $36,358.1 134.9% Image Generators 65.8% $27,260.2 Video Generators 61.2% 102.8% Audio Generators 59.6% 71.1% $19,471.0 Numeric/Structured 59% Data Generators $12,852.4 51.5% Foundation Models 56.6% $7,510.3 40.0% $3,703.6 33.4% Text Generators 29.9% 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 23-28 CAGR Total Market Revenue (in Millions) MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 14
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE There is a massive amount of money currently being invested, spent and made in the AI space across the entire economy, with companies like Net昀氀ix making news for offering jobs at over 900k/ year for an AI-focused Product Manager. Inside the tech world, those who already have an AI skill- set are getting a salary boost versus their peers with software engineers that are AI-focused seeing between an 8% and 12% compensation bump compared to their non-AI counterparts, depending on seniority. Compensation Increase For AI versus Non-AI Roles Source: levels.fyi % Difference If you're looking for 15% a job in AI or with AI, 12% check out the open 9% roles on our job board. 6% 10.11% 12.5% 9.92% 3% 8.13% 0% Entry Level Engineer Engineer Senior Engineer Staff Engineer Standard Level Tech workers are taking the hint, as while it is still a challenge for hiring managers and companies to 昀椀nd quality candidates for AI-related roles, it’s becoming slightly easier year-over-year, with some roles being easier to 昀椀nd by over 10%. Hiring for AI-Related Roles Source: McKinsey Global Survey on AI, 2023 Share of respondents reporting difficulty in organizations’ hiring of AI-related roles % 020406080 100 Machine learning engineers AI data scientists Translators AI product owners/managers Data architects Prompt engineers Software engineers Data engineers Design specialists Data-visualization specialist 2022 2023 Asked only respondents whose organizations have adopted AI in at least 1 function and who said their organization hired the given role in the past 12 months. Respondents who said “easy,” “neither difficult nor easy,” or “don’t know” are not shown. Not asked of respondents in 2022. 15
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE While companies across the world are spending top dollar for IT workers who can create AI and ML tools that help computing and processing powers take giant leaps forward, others inside the industry have fears that these advancements will come at the expense of their jobs. A survey of tech professionals showed that over half (52%) are worried about losing their jobs due to auto- mation or Arti昀椀cial Intelligence, compared to only 26% disagreeing with the concern. However, there have been many recent examples of companies attempting to use AI as an end-to-end solution that have end- ed in disaster. Fully automated news articles riddled with factual errors and mistakes, thoroughly unhelpful chatbots, and attorneys 昀椀ned for attempting to use generative text for briefs are just a few issues, with many other examples out there of AI failures. Generative AI Related Risks Source: McKinsey Global Survey on AI, 2023 Generative AI-related risks that organizations consider relevant and are working to mitigate, % of respondents Organization considers risk relevant Organization working to mitigate risk Inaccuracy 56 32 Cyber Security 53 38 Intellectual-property Infringement 46 25 Regulatory Compliance 45 28 Explainability 39 18 Personal/Individual Privacy 39 20 Workforce/Labor Displacement 34 13 Equity and Fairness 31 16 Organizational Reputation 29 16 National Security 14 4 Physical Safety 11 6 Environmental Impact 11 5 Political Stability 10 2 None of the Above 1 8 Asked only respondents whose organizations have adopted AI in at least 1 function. As of now, AI can be a useful productivity tool that allows workers to blow past remedial tasks and focus on complex, more rewarding work. One study of developers after being introduced to an AI tool found that they produced 46% more code at a 55% faster rate. Most importantly, the developers said they were 75% more ful昀椀lled in their work after using the AI tool. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 16
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE Generative AI Tools for Developer Experience Source: McKinsey & Company I was able to focus on I felt happy satisfying and meaningful work I was in a ‘flow’ state 15 20 25 31 50 44 Strongly Agree 30 30 30 Somewhat Agree Neither Agree or Disagree 25 56 Somewhat Disagree 38 30 20 50 Strongly Disagree 30 15 20 13 5 13 5 6 Without With Without With Without With generative AI generative AI generative AI generative AI generative AI generative AI In reality, we are still at the beginning stages of this technology, and "Human intelligence needs to the 昀椀nal use cases of AI and machine learning vary wildly. There is the be part of the (software devel- opment) process to accomplish possibility that this tech will become a valuable productivity tool for and present work to business many, but not the economy-altering revolution that some have pre- partners and stakeholders. dicted. However, there is an equal chance that this technology has the I strongly believe engineers are opportunity to fundamentally change how work gets done, both in the not replaceable. Generative AI IT industry and beyond. will make the day-to-day work of engineers more fun and creative." While we all wait and see where AI ends up, for those in the tech in- Fouad Bousetouane dustry it would be wise to invest time in seeing what AI tools are being Director of ML, Grainger implemented in your 昀椀eld and see if there is an opportunity to upskill so you can reap the 昀椀nancial as well as work ful昀椀llment bene昀椀ts of AI. WATCH: How AI is Transforming the Way Software Developers Work Roles Most Impacted by Use of AI Source: Stanford University,'s 2023 Arti昀椀cial Intelligence Index Report Business Analytics or Intelligence 65% Automated Repetitive, Low-Level Tasks 64% Identify Risks and Improve Security 43% Monitoring and Governance 34% Conversational AI or Virtual Assistants 33% Augment Operational Staff in their Decision Making 28% Sensor Data Analysis 27% Financial Planning and Analysis 20% Content Creation 16% Define Business Strategy 12% HOW WILL AI CHANGE THE WAY SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS WORK? ION? Click to read 8 ways you can expect things to change. 17
ADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS FOR 2024 Advice from the Experts for 2024 For Both Hiring Managers and Tech Workers: Create Balance Through Compromise Moving into 2024, we are at a point where neither hiring managers nor tech workers have the upper hand in the marketplace, and both need to 昀椀nd common ground so both can thrive in the years ahead. For hiring managers, while demand for tech talent slightly lowered at the start of the year, it by no means subsided and only grew as 2023 has progressed. Because of this, attempting to lowball can- didates, cutting bene昀椀ts or overworking employees once they arrive is a recipe for disaster. For tech workers, setting reasonable expectations for the salary range you’re willing to accept will help you in your job search, along with working with managers on a 昀氀exible hybrid work environment that allows for occasionally coming into the of昀椀ce along with days working from home. Invest in AI: Next-generation arti昀椀cial intelligence tools appear to be here to stay, and both hiring managers and tech workers would be wise to 昀椀nd out how these exploding technologies are affecting their part of the IT economy. Tech workers need to learn and understand the AI tools and programs that are being used currently in your area and see how you can implement them in your work昀氀ow. Even if the tools aren’t ready for prime time and can only help in basic tasks, having a background in these AI programs could have lasting bene昀椀ts long- term as the technology advances. Hiring managers and companies should be looking to empower workers to upskill in these AI tools and possibly go beyond having workers use free, readily available tools like ChatGPT and invest in paid tools to help workers become more productive. While at- tempting to fully replace workers with AI tools in 2024 is probably a bad idea, spending money to help workers become more pro- ductive is always a good investment. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM
ADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS FOR 2024 Top IT Automation Tools Planned for Future Source: Global SRE Report 2022 Chaos Engineering 17% AI and Machine Learning Tools 15% Security Tools 10% Service Level Management 9% Observability 9% Release Management 7% Application Security Management 7% CI/CD Tools 7% Provisioning Tools 7% Network Management 6% Configuration Management 5% Infrastructure Management 5% ITSM And/Or Ticketing System 4% Monitor and Observability Tools 4% For Hiring Managers Unicorns Aren’t Real, Don’t Delay Hiring for One: While the market has softened slightly and salary demands are no longer rising at the rates they were in years past, it is still dif昀椀cult to 昀椀nd tech talent in 2024. Many companies are probably looking for the exact same skills you are, so if you 昀椀nd someone who 昀椀ts your company culture as well as the abilities you’re looking for in a role, do not think you can prolong the hiring process or pay a can- didate lower than what they are worth. Our recruiters told us that on multiple occasions, a hiring manager was going through the interview process with a candidate they liked, however, they wanted to keep looking to 昀椀nd someone who was “perfect” and use the 昀椀rst as a backup option. Their unicorn didn’t exist, and the 昀椀rst candidate was quickly picked up by a different business. Don’t let perfection get in the way of success. Why The Candidate Experience Ma琀琀ers Source: Vervo's Survey on The Impact of Slow Hiring 75% 60% 30% 83% of employees accepted of applicants quit on of applicants ranked of candidates admit their a job offer because of a application process how responsive an overall experience would be positive candidate because it was too organization is as the most improved if employers experience. long or complex. important aspect of the provided clear timelines candidate experience. for the hiring process. 19
ADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS FOR 2024 Learn the Value of Inexperience: Relatedly, even a perfect candidate that checks all the boxes of what you’re looking for and has all the skills you need for a role might not be all it cracks up to be. Our experts said that candidates who already have the skills needed to do their job well can end up being bored in the role quickly and might start looking for new challenges at a different job, sometimes within a year of being hired. If instead you look to hire someone slightly more junior and inexperienced, but talented and driven for the role, not only could you hire at a lower salary, but the person in the role will feel challenged from day one on the job, as well as more ful昀椀lled and happier with the company as they grow into the position and expand their skill set. For Tech Workers Understand Who You Are and the Value You Bring It is true that if you are an “A”-level talent in this market, you can still pretty much pick your salary and working arrangements, within reason. However, those true elite workers are few and far between. For the rest of us, have an honest assessment of where your skills are compared to the rest of your peers. If you set unrealistic expectations for what you’re willing to accept in a new role, not only will you end up being disappointed with whatever role you end up in, but also miss out on great opportunities that were previously dismissed. Top 3 Barriers to Upskilling Source: DevOps Institute "To upskill, gain expe- rience, or start a new 44% 40% 30% role quickly, consider a contract role. Here's why IT contracting is so popular right now. lack of time lack of budget making upskilling a priority Find Ways to Grow: As one of our recruiters said, “In the tech industry, if you’re not learning and growing, you’re falling behind.” It is vital for tech workers looking to take their careers to the next level to 昀椀nd ways to upskill and increase their value. That could be through opportunities your company offers, taking leadership courses or advanced degree classes part-time or taking advantage of all the numerous freely available trainings online. Have a conversation with your manager to see what skills the company is looking for, both in and out of your current role, and try and work towards 昀椀lling that gap. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 20
CONCLUSION Put Your 2024 in Motion Services & Opportunity 2024 promises to be one of the most exciting years to be a part of the IT industry, with new technological advancements happening every day and busi- nesses looking to grow rapidly after a brief period of caution and economic slowdown. When considering what is best for your career or company, having experts on your side who can help along your journey is vital. Motion Recruitment stays on the pulse of the tech world, seeing the innovative ways businesses and workers are staying a step ahead and can help guide you in making the right decisions for your business or job search in 2024 and beyond. We hope that these insights and the following salary data help you better understand the tech industry, and we are always ready to hear your feedback, talk strategy, and work with you to lead you on a roadmap to success this year. Visit our website to contact a local expert and get started today. MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 21
TECH SALARY RANGES Tech Salary Ranges This section outlines the salary ranges in the US and Canada by role in major technology sectors. Leverage the city speci昀椀c variances per tech sector Contents on the following page for regional salary ranges per tech job. Tech Salary Ranges 23 Local Variances 24 Management/Executive PAGES 23-30 25 Software Development Top skills to Upskill 27 Product + UX, Mobile, QA 28 Data 29 Infrastructure, 30 Cyber, Security Adding Value: Certi昀椀cations 22
TECH SALARY RANGES Local Variances Per City + Tech Use these local variances below as a multiplier to get a more accurate salary ranges for each area of technical expertise in the city you're hiring or looking for a role in. See the example below. With many tech positions still remote or hybrid, traditional tech hubs have expanded and tech leadership is still adjusting. See remote trends and how to handle in the tech marketplace here. Variances Arlington Atlanta Boston Charlo琀琀e Chicago Dallas Los New York Philadel- Phoenix San Fran- San Jose Toronto Angeles phia cisco Software 1.034 0.915 1.019 0.844 0.951 0.945 1.115 1.062 0.883 0.935 1.263 1.261 0.956 Security 1.078 0.954 1.063 0.880 0.993 0.986 1.163 1.108 0.922 0.975 1.318 1.316 0.997 Product & UX 0.964 0.853 0.950 0.787 0.887 0.881 1.040 0.990 0.824 0.872 1.178 1.176 0.891 Mobile 1.190 1.053 1.173 0.972 1.095 1.088 1.284 1.223 1.017 1.076 1.455 1.452 1.101 Infrastructure 0.911 0.806 0.898 0.744 0.839 0.833 0.983 0.936 0.779 0.824 1.114 1.112 0.843 Functional 0.990 0.876 0.976 0.808 0.911 0.905 1.068 1.017 0.846 0.895 1.210 1.208 0.916 Data 1.051 0.930 1.036 0.858 0.967 0.961 1.134 1.080 0.898 0.950 1.285 1.282 0.972 AVERAGES 1.0258 0.9210 1.0137 0.9001 1.0091 0.9027 1.0988 1.0483 0.8915 0.8853 1.2218 1.1885 0.9688 Senior Data Scientist Low Range: $146,000 High Range: $182,000 Average: $164,000 NEW YORK CITY AVERAGE X 1.080 $177,120 SAN FRANCISCO AVERAGE X 1.285 $210,740 ***The city variances shown here are derived fully from analyzing internal company data, which is copyrighted and intended for personal use only. These averages are to be used as a guide and actual salaries should be adjusted based on each person's abilities, experiences and technical skill level. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 23
TECH SALARY RANGES National Management/Executive As described on the opening page, salary averages here represent low ranges and high ranges of the two levels. Management MIN MAX Chief Security Of昀椀cer $220,344 $341,480 VP of Engineering $195,462 $253,499 Chief Technology Of昀椀cer $189,753 $232,763 Creative Director $151,856 $225,302 Director of Engineering $176,363 $216,363 Engineering Manager $158,990 $203,758 Top Jobs of 2023 Source: Indeed Job Title Percent Change in Job Share 2020-2023 Full Stack Developer 56% Data Engineer 44% Cloud Engineer 42% In Indeed’s “Top Senior Product Manager 45% Jobs of 2023,” 8 out of the top 10 Back End Developer 60% are tech positions. Site Reliability Engineer 55% Machine Learning Engineer 37% Product Design 48% In the United States, the number of job applications candidates have been submi琀琀ing is up 18% year-over-year from 2022 to 2023. +18% LinkedIn job posts that mention artificial intelligence or generative AI have seen an extra 17% more applications over the past two years com- YEAR OVER YEAR pared to job posts with no mentions. 2424
TECH SALARY RANGES So昀琀ware Development MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH So昀琀ware $110,707 $140,173 $129,595 $160,625 Back End $118,316 $148,465 $136,875 $169,952 .Net Architect $147,500 $190,000 .Net Developer $95,400 $121,470 $117,571 $145,918 Application Developer $96,000 $121,600 $120,000 $140,000 BackEnd Developer $122,418 $154,618 $145,300 $182,742 C++ Developer $125,500 $168,800 $143,800 $190,000 Golang Developer $146,105 $183,700 $149,160 $199,300 Java Architect $147,500 $172,500 Java Developer $103,636 $132,200 $121,600 $156,400 Microservices Engineer $120,000 $140,000 $144,000 $162,200 Node.js Developer $126,900 $146,600 $134,590 $170,700 PHP Developer $110,000 $132,000 $122,200 $148,150 Platform Engineer $140,860 $180,500 $143,500 $179,200 Python Developer $114,300 $145,000 $145,800 $179,000 Ruby on Rails Developer $118,676 $155,088 $144,360 $183,272 Desired and Admired Programming, Script and Markup Languages Source: Stack Over昀氀ow JavaScript Python TypeScript HTML/CSS SQL Rust C# Bash/Shell (All Shells) Go Java Most Desired (and Tested) Tech Stacks in Java and .Net Source: DevSkiller Digital & IT Skills Report 2023 Java .NET/C# 1. Java 11 35.46% 1. .NET Framework 28.67% 2. Spring 30.42% 2. ASP.NET 23.33% 3. Spring Boot 17.28% 3. .NET Core 19.5% 4. Maven 8.67% 4. ASP.NET MVC 14.67% 5. JPA 8.16% 5. .NET 5 13.83% FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 2525
TECH SALARY RANGES MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Front End $113,156 $142,701 $121,755 $163,549 Angular Developer $107,428 $134,457 $117,338 $159,596 Javascript Developer $113,615 $144,018 $125,126 $165,525 React Developer $118,425 $149,629 $122,800 $165,525 General $112,245 $143,335 $138,004 $163,685 Full Stack Software Developer $123,800 $151,800 $143,642 $165,678 Gaming Engineer $92,500 $132,500 $154,000 $165,000 Robotics Engineer $126,600 $168,300 $125,000 $160,000 Sales Engineer $118,300 $152,200 $130,000 $162,000 Salesforce Developer $115,000 $150,000 Solutions Architect $150,666 $180,577 Software Architect $156,000 $187,500 Software Developer $99,337 $133,012 $122,395 $155,368 Technical Writer $110,178 $115,532 $122,329 $133,355 Control Systems Engineer $106,181 $121,498 $128,566 $145,080 Embedded $111,071 $143,136 $135,576 $165,320 Embedded Engineer $110,000 $147,700 $127,352 $157,940 Firmware Engineer $112,142 $138,571 $143,800 $172,700 Most Popular Web Frameworks & Tech Skills Need Per Junior Developer Role Source: Stack Over昀氀ow Developer Survey, 2023 Source: DevSkiller's Digital & IT Skills Report 2023 ASP.NET CORE 16.57% React Developer Node.js 42.65% React Developer 65 65 React 40.58% Angular Developer 63 Vue.js 16.38% Angular Developer 63 jQuery 21.98% 13.38% Vue Developer 57 Wordpress Vue Developer 57 Express 19.28% Android Developer 53 Angular 17.46% 12.79% Android Developer 53 ASP.NET PHP Developer 43 Next.js 16.67% 12.16% PHP Developer 43 Flask 16.57% iOS Developer 42 ASP.NET CORE iOS Developer 42 Spring Boot 16.38% 11.95% DevOps Engineer 41 Vue.js DevOps Engineer 41 Wordpress 13.38% 11.47% .NET Developer 39 Django .NET Developer ASP.NET 12.79% 7.58% Java Developer 35 39 Laravel 12.16% Flask Automation Developer Java Developer 31 35 Spring Boot 11.95% 7.42% FastAPI C++ Developer 27 Django 11.47% Automation Developer 31 Svelte 6.62% QA Engineer 27 Laravel 7.58% C++ Developer 27 7.42% 5.49% Python Developer 25 Ruby on Rails QA Engineer FastAPI 27 Svelte 6.62% Systems Admin 17 Nest.JS 5.13% Python Developer 25 Ruby on Rails 5.49% 010203040 50 60 70 80 Blazor 4.88% Systems Admin 17 Nest.JS 5.13% Number of Skills Blazor 4.88% 010203040 50 60 70 80 Nuxt.js 3.69% Nuxt.js 3.69% Number of Skills FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 2626
TECH SALARY RANGES Product + UX, QA, Mobile MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Product & UX $114,368 $142,110 $129,332 $160,242 Product Designer $120,972 $150,416 $136,332 $169,144 Product Manager $122,758 $152,165 $135,875 $170,000 UI/UX Designer $99,375 $123,750 $115,789 $141,583 QA Automation Engineers saw a 10.6% increase in salary on average YOY. QA $98,748 $123,229 $115,764 $140,620 QA Analyst $87,000 $98,000 $108,798 $125,000 QA Automation Engineer $110,000 $135,000 $125,000 $144,000 QA Engineer $88,555 $112,066 $105,740 $133,481 SDET $109,437 $147,850 $123,518 $160,000 Mobile $122,824 $153,204 $139,604 $177,444 Android Developer $124,545 $161,590 $136,041 $186,575 iOS Developer $114,761 $144,063 $142,227 $176,190 React Native Developer $129,166 $153,958 $140,543 $169,566 Functional $100,494 $119,398 $117,532 $139,720 Business Intelligence Analyst $102,500 $129,300 $120,000 $145,300 Business Analyst $81,138 $102,277 $91,250 $113,750 Product Owner $105,937 $134,687 $146,666 $172,500 Project Manager $105,869 $127,021 $107,727 $143,636 Program Manager $117,458 $128,357 $142,302 $156,890 Project Coordinator $90,060 $94,746 $97,244 $106,246 Top 6 Certi昀椀cations for Product Development 1. Project Management Professional (PMP) 2. Certi昀椀ed Scrum Master (CSM) 3. Certi昀椀ed Manager Certi昀椀cation (CM) 4. Certi昀椀ed Scrum Product Owner (CSPO) 5. Certi昀椀ed Product Manager (CPM) 6. Master Project Manager (MPM) 2727
TECH SALARY RANGES Data MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Data $116,031 $145,670 $143,862 $175,711 AI Engineer $109,436 $153,079 $145,591 $201,607 Business Intelligence Developer $95,256 $116,337 $130,550 $145,560 Computer Vision Engineer $130,000 $172,500 $155,000 $197,500 Data Architect $168,437 $224,375 Data Analyst $89,102 $113,205 $129,666 $152,333 Data Engineer $127,510 $160,106 $143,034 $173,867 Data Modeler $105,158 $124,336 $131,178 $157,439 Data Scientist $124,811 $171,415 $146,000 $181,428 Database Engineer $120,000 $157,200 $126,000 $183,204 Machine Learning Engineer $125,227 $168,297 $158,225 $196,129 Data Warehouse Analyst $122,895 $142,463 $148,832 $159,313 Data Warehouse Developer $121,250 $129,434 $138,748 $149,367 Database Administrator $121,726 $139,670 $148,948 $162,122 Top 6 AI Tools for Business Ef昀椀ciency: 1. ThoughtSpot Sage 2. Chat GPT 3. Google Bard and Duet 4. Jasper 5. ChatSpot.ai by HubSpot 6. theGist Demand for Data and Machine Learn- ing roles is increasing, with Data Scientist demand up by 21% and demand for ML Engineers up by 15% year-over-year heading into 2024. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT MOTIONRECRUITMENT.COM 2828
TECH SALARY RANGES Infrastructure According to a worldwide survey of IT executives, the biggest barrier to further utilize emerging cloud-based technologies is the lack of cloud skills in the IT workforce. However, with many companies moving to a multi-cloud environment, cloud-based career opportunities will contin- ue to grow. MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Infrastructure $93,607 $114,515 $121,993 $145,960 Cloud Architect $153,750 $190,583 Cloud Engineer $122,922 $150,666 $140,344 $172,620 DevOps Architect/Coach $168,915 $202,340 DevOps Engineer $136,111 $167,055 $137,032 $180,650 Technical Support Analyst $66,562 $82,187 $83,463 $92,590 Helpdesk Support $57,697 $71,921 $77,444 $90,780 Infrastructure and Security Architect $150,000 $170,000 IT Systems Analyst $83,333 $106,116 $104,589 $118,760 Linux Administrator $91,200 $105,800 $112,500 $134,600 Network Architect $142,500 $182,500 Network Administrator $86,363 $100,000 $109,450 $117,356 Network Engineer $102,217 $122,239 $121,034 $143,965 Site Reliability Engineer $123,830 $150,925 $148,924 $179,967 Support Engineer $71,428 $99,000 $89,000 $108,000 Systems Architect $153,932 $172,867 Systems Administrator $84,117 $104,205 $97,000 $126,580 Systems Engineer $97,500 $114,062 $115,757 $141,787 Agile MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Agile $131,268 $139,458 $148,318 $164,060 Agile Coach (Enterprise) $120,134 $128,193 $136,230 $151,886 RTE/Release Train Engineer $157,427 $166,849 $177,605 $189,659 Scrum Master $116,243 $123,332 $131,119 $150,636 Highest Paying Tools to Know (According to Tech Professionals) Source: Stack Over昀氀ow Developer Survey, 2023 1. Zig $103,611.00 11. OCaml $91,026.00 2. Erlang $99,492.00 12. Objective-C $90,000.00 3. F# $99,311.00 13. Flow $88,934.00 4. Ruby $98,522.00 14. Rust $87,012.00 5. Clojure $96,381.00 15. Swift $86,897.00 6. Elixir $96,381.00 16. Groovy $86,271.00 7. 17. Bash/Shell Lisp $96,381.00 (all shells) $85,672.00 8. Scala $96,381.00 18. Haskell $85,672.00 9. Perl $94,540.00 19. Apex $81,552.00 10. Go $92,760.00 20. PowerShell $81,311.00 2929
TECH SALARY RANGES Cyber Security Top 10 Cloud Platforms, in Order: Source: Stack Over昀氀ow Developer Survey, 2023 1. Amazon Web Services (AWS) 5. Cloud昀氀are 9. Netlify 2. Microsoft Azure 6. Digital Ocean 10. VMware 3. Google Cloud 7. Heroku 4. Firebase 8. Vercel MID LEVEL SENIOR LEVEL LOW HIGH LOW HIGH Security $115,797 $139,680 $132,352 $162,152 CyberSecurity Architect $132,200 $173,800 (Cyber)Security Engineer $132,555 $149,802 $142,435 $172,600 Application Security Engineer $122,656 $158,750 $141,179 $170,500 DevSecOps Engineer $136,111 $167,055 $149,615 $190,523 Information Security Analyst $100,000 $110,000 $114,890 $142,930 Information Security Engineer $115,570 $142,750 $134,415 $158,324 Network Security Engineer $121,660 $149,116 $120,000 $160,000 Security Architect $152,189 $170,750 SOC (Security) Security Analyst $82,027 $100,290 $104,090 $131,590 Pen Tester $118,000 $155,000 $127,000 $175,000 Detection Engineer $130,000 $230,000 Adding Value: Certi昀椀cations These certi昀椀cations are listed on the most job listings in the US: CISSP AWS Certi昀椀ed CISM 35% of people reported a Solutions Architect 35% wage increase after earning a 1 2 3 certi昀椀cation. Certi昀椀ed tech professionals 4 5 8% have 8% higher salaries versus non-certi昀椀ed professionals. AWS Certi昀椀ed Google Cloud: Professional Sysops Admin-Assoc. Cloud Security Engineer HAVE CERTIFICATIONS AND LOOKING FOR A CYBERSECURITY POSITION? 3030 SEE HOW MOTION CAN HELP YOU FIND YOUR NEXT ROLE.
ABOUT US Tomorrow is Waiting Let's Go. Motion Recruitment provides premier IT staf昀椀ng solutions (Contract, Contract-to-Hire, and Direct Hire) across 23 North American markets: Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Sili- con Valley, Jacksonville, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Orange County, Birmingham, Des Moines, Greenville, Houston, Charlotte, Phoenix, Raleigh, Fort Worth, Dallas, Seattle and Toronto and offers Guides for fourteen of these. Motion Recruitment offers a unique and deep expertise in 昀椀nding and placing candidates with the highest in demand tech skill sets, such as UI/UX, Open Source, Microsoft Development, Network Security & Infrastructure, and Mobile Development. Our high-touch, specialized and team-based recruitment model, paired with our deep networks and knowledge of our local technology markets, result in an exemplary track record. Motion Recruitment is also the proud cre- ator of Tech in Motion, an international tech event series that connects 100,000 tech enthusiasts to meet, learn, and innovate. DATA SOURCES The data in this salary guide represents real market compensation ranges derived from 15 major cities in North America. The base salary ranges are divided between Mid-level (2-5 years) and Senior-level experience levels (5+ years). Role ranges may vary by company size, industry and organization structure. All data is propriety to Motion Recruitment, validated by external sources, and subject to copyright and infringement protections. Contact Motion Recruitment for more detailed information on methodology based on your speci昀椀c needs. HIRING MANAGERS: Contact one of our Recruiting Managers to request more information about local talent availability. CONTACT A RECRUITER JOB SEEKERS: Visit our website to 昀椀nd information about open roles in your local market. APPLY TO A JOB 3131