Friday, June 12, 2009

IT Salary Levels in Perth

I was having a look at some IT salary survey data for Australia.

It has always annoyed me that "less difficult" tasks were valued more than more "difficult tasks". For example, a C++ programmer in Perth contracts from $40-$75, a VB developer gets the same, and a .Net developer gets more ($80), with Java winning out at $90. Even web developers get more, starting at $55.

This has always annoyed me about Perth. However, take a look at a different city, and you will see a different story. Take our nearest neighbor, Adelaide.


.NET $40-$75, Java to $65, VB to $65, Web developers to $65, With C++ topping it out at $85. Seems a lot more reasonable to me.

In Adelaide, help desk staff start at $37k and get paid $58k, tops, unlike Perth, where desktop support staff start at $45k and top out at $65k. This is the same starting salary for a C++ developer in Perth. This certainly explains why people in Perth don't bother to stick around if they get a good education. If you can earn as much on help desk straight from school as you can with a university degree as a programmer, why bother?

What is wrong with Perth?

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