Graduate pay holding up

Although there are a diminishing number of graduates entering IT sector as unemployment increases to 44 per cent, salaries are rising.

As the unemployment prospects for university leavers entering IT have seen a year-on-year increase of 44 per cent, the number of graduates entering the world of IT is declining, reveals a study by the Higher Education Careers Services Unit (HECSU).

The rate of unemployed IT increased 4.2 percentage points to 13.7 per cent for the 220,065 students surveyed in January 2009 and who graduated in 2008, reveals HECSU’s What Do Graduates Do?

The number of graduates going into IT type roles saw a-year-on-year decrease. The number of IT consultants, software professionals and computer programmers dropped 18 per cent from 2,980 to just under 2,450, whilst the number of graduates working as IT technician/helpdesk support decreased by 15 per cent from 795 to 675. However, there has been little change in the numbers employed as web developers or designers.

For those that reported their salaries in What Do Graduates Do? the average salary was £19,677, an increase of 2 per cent from 2007. The average salary for IT professionals was £22, 941, an 3.1 per cent increase from 2007. IT service delivery occupations average salary has remained the same at £18,579.

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