The high demand in cybersecurity allows employees in IT departments of companies to look towards the future with hope, according to the “Report on wages and trends in companies” by Grafton Recruitment. Although the sector has slowed down, IT support is one of the most satisfying professions – only 1.6% express definite dissatisfaction.
Demand for roles such as Service Desk Specialist, IT Systems Administrator, or SAP Consultant grew rapidly to reach its peak in the first quarter of 2022. Currently, due to the economic slowdown, companies are limiting investments and cautiously making decisions about increasing employment.
At the same time, the ongoing development of technology and the ubiquity of remote work are contributing to further growth in demand for selected IT specializations in 2023. Cybersecurity remains a “green island” on the job advertisement map – in the third quarter of 2023, the demand for specialists in this area was almost twice as high as in the same period the previous year. There are also ads for IT Support positions, although currently the demand for these roles is 20% lower than in the first quarter of 2022, when it reached its highest level in the last five years.
“The need to protect sensitive data is becoming increasingly important, which means that demand for these types of specialists will be steady. Whether companies will use specialized firms or employ internally, the need to protect data will force organizations to allocate resources for this purpose,” says Agata Jemioła, Branch Manager at Grafton Recruitment.
The first variant is becoming increasingly popular, evidenced by the presence in the market of companies – the largest employ in Poland only several thousand people, and as much as 100,000 vacancies worldwide.
Remote Work the Norm, Raises not Necessarily
The most significant determinant of IT support employee satisfaction was remuneration, similar to other departments. The ability to work remotely turned out to be the second most important factor. At the time of the study, as much as 55.7% of people worked in this way. People evaluated that remote work, besides a good work atmosphere, met their needs the most adequately.
The salary they received was deemed to be the least fulfilled expectation. This reflects the part of the study related to salary increases – only 18% of respondents received a last-year raise higher than inflation. Current IT support staff can expect salaries between PLN 5,500 to 28,000.
Salary is determined by both position and place of work. However, it is evident that salaries are related to the complexity of a given area. A Service Desk worker who takes care of team access and simple breakdowns can expect a starting salary of PLN 5,500, but after promotion to the so-called second line, they may earn even PLN 15,000. Among the specialists, SAP consultants, who operate at the intersection of technology and business can count on the highest wages (up to PLN 26,000), and among managerial staff, a CTO (Chief Technology Officer) in the capital city may earn between 25-40,000 PLN.
Satisfied with Work and Loyal to the Industry
The wage freeze in 2023 did not cause widespread dissatisfaction among IT Support staff. According to the study, as much as 72% of those employed in the industry take satisfaction from their work. Only 1.6% indicated definite dissatisfaction, which is the lowest result in the entire study. Satisfaction with employment translates into a lack of interest in changing career paths – 42.6% of respondents excluded a transition, which is the highest result in the entire study.
“Despite the evident slowdown in the entire IT sector, employees associated with support believe that the job market is replete with attractive offers. It is difficult to argue with them because, although NPI (New Product Introduction) type projects may be suspended, the expansion of infrastructure related to access control, the possibility of remote work in a corporate environment, or data security is not decreasing,” comments Agnieszka Zakościelna, IT & Engineering Delivery Center Manager at Grafton Recruitment.
Changes in law also favour digitization, which in a natural way, although not necessarily decisively, influences the demand for Support workers. People in the industry seem to be fully aware of this because although only 20% are actively seeking a new employer, as much as 98% are aware of what the job ad market looks like.
