Global Knowledge IT Skills and Salary Report is the largest worldwide study of professionals in the technology community. The following are some of the key findings in the study:
Opportunities exist for bigger paychecks
IT professionals don’t lack opportunities to boost their pay. Learning a new skill or earning a certification can result in a raise upwards of $12,000 a year. Seeking a promotion to a management position can also pay off, as some decision-makers make over 25% more than the employees they manage.
More IT professionals are certified this year
87% percent of IT professionals have at least one certification, while nearly 40% are already pursuing their next certification. After achieving a certification, IT professionals recognize the benefits immediately, including an increase in work quality, more engagement with their work, and faster job performance.
Skills gaps are stable, but still a significant problem
For the first time since 2016, the percentage of IT skills gaps did not rise year over year. And yet, over 75% of IT decision-makers are dealing with skills gaps. The loss in productivity due to skills gaps can equal 520 hours and $29,000 per employee. Yikes.
Training support is on the upswing
Over 90% of survey respondents trained in the past year — up seven percent from 2019. This may be due to an increase in manager support. When authorized by the organization, 80% of IT decision-makers approved training for their staff, an improvement of 36% from a year ago.
Workloads are major challenges for both managers and their staff
The amount of day-to-day work for the average IT professional is untenable. It’s also exacerbated by skills gaps and unfilled positions on their team. Increasing workloads cause undue stress on employees, which is a problem because an overwhelming number of unsatisfied IT professionals are likely to seek a job change.
Professional Certifications
According to the most recent 2020 report, 87% percent of IT professionals hold at least one certification, up from 85% in 2019 and just behind the all-time high of 89% in 2018. Latin America and EMEA have the highest percentage of certified professionals (90%), while North America is below the global average for the second year in a row.
A majority of certified IT professionals experience two main certification benefits: better job performance leading to higher salaries.
After training to achieve an IT certification, over half of IT professionals said the quality of their work has improved, while one-third find their work more engaging post-certification. Another 15% say they now make fewer errors.
IT professionals tend to be more effective in their jobs after certification because of the training investment required. Especially with hands-on training, individuals can learn new skills that easily translate to the workplace. These same people make an immediate and meaningful impact in their job, which is why nearly 20% either received a raise or a promotion after getting certified.
An IT certification indicates to employers that an individual is willing to invest a significant amount of time to build important skills. The respondents also said a certification can help earn the trust of customers.
In 2020, 80% of North American managers and 78% worldwide report skills gaps. a majority of IT decision-makers say their teams don’t have the skills required to meet current or future needs. When asked to assess the level of risk that skills gaps pose to their team objectives, 77% said the risk is medium to high. Only one percent said skills gaps pose “no risk.”
Skills gaps remain a challenge and they will not disappear on their own. 68% percent of IT decision-makers anticipate new skills gaps in the next two years. Action must be taken immediately to prioritize skills development.
The number one impact of skills gaps is increased employee stress. Other costs include lower quality work, decreased ability to meet business objectives, increased project duration and a decline in innovation. According to study conducted by Nielsen, 80% of American workers are stressed by at least one thing at work. Long hours and heavy workloads are leading stressors, and both are exacerbated by team skill shortages.
When asked how they’ll respond to rising skills gaps, 56% of IT decision-makers said they’ll train their existing staff. This is an increase of 17% from last year, signaling that many may be starting to understand that hiring isn’t a viable solution to skill shortages and upskilling current employees reduces the need to go outside your organization for new talent, plus it’s a great way to invest in your team. When formal training is available, managers must do everything in their power to ensure employees have the opportunity to build necessary skills because it benefits not just the employee, but them as well.
Certification value is nearly unanimous — 94% of decision-makers worldwide say that certified team members provide added value above and beyond the cost of certification. To put a number on it, over half of those surveyed estimate the annual economic benefit of a certified employee is more than $10,000. Sixteen percent estimate the benefit is $30,000 or higher.
The main benefit of certified personnel is their ability to close organizational skills gaps. Certified employees are also more productive, meet client requirements, troubleshoot issues quickly, provide an edge over competitors, and complete projects faster.
It’s no surprise why the learner prefers classroom training. There are fewer distractions in the classroom, as opposed to training at home or in the office. Plus, you get to interact in real time with instructors and classmates and when you need to add critical skills that are a high priority for the business, nothing beats instructor-led training, however recent restrictions and mandates related to COVID-19 have forced tele-education as a primary modality.
On-demand training, on the other hand, provides greater flexibility. As we explored in the IT decision-maker section, IT workloads are a real problem. Managers are hesitant to approve training and even more reluctant to allow team members to be away from the desks to attend a course. That’s likely why on-demand is the most-used training type, even though it’s not the most preferred.
For IT professionals who said their company offered formal training this year, 66% took part in online training (e.g., virtual classroom) while 62% attended a course with an outside training provider. Fifty-eight percent said their company provides internal IT training.
Globally, 91% of IT professionals took some form of training last year—up from 85% in 2019. The main reason most seek training is to build new skills. Seventy-eight percent of both IT staff and decision-makers train to improve their skill set. Another 45% said they trained to prepare for a certification, while 37% wanted to be ready for a new technology or product migration.
COVID-19 has played a significant part in the impact on budgets and the expanding role of virtual and on-line learning platforms. The need for virtual training and we expect that number to skyrocket, and at the same time we are beginning to see a return to the physical classroom setting as well.
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