Bonuses are back in fashion —IT professionals are receiving bigger pay packets than they did before the recession. It appears the IT profession is bucking the industry trend of fewer perks during a tentative economic recovery; more IT managers are pocketing a bonus. By Helen Beckett [Published 23/11/2010]
When the UK economy went into freefall during late 2008, many employers either reduced bonuses or did away with them altogether. A total of 3,500 individuals in IT lost their bonus entitlement.
In June 2008, the Computer Staff Salary Survey found that just over half (52%) of all IT professionals and their managers had received a bonus payment in the previous 12 months. A year later, the figure slumped to 47 % before bouncing back to the 55% reported in June 2010.
IT pros buck the trend
The report by XpertHR reckons it is too soon to judge whether the recovery in bonus payments to IT professionals represents a trend in other sectors. “Anecdotal evidence suggests that IT professionals may be bucking the trend with employers looking to boost basic pay (where business performance permits) by consolidating bonuses. This is especially the case in the finance sector where bonus payments have become a sensitive issue”.
Hays Recruitment confirms that bonuses are typically associated with the financial services sector. However, it reports a growing trend in the awarding of bonuses to non-managerial staff across a variety of industries in the UK, including media, gaming, retail and telecoms.
“Aside from more favourable market conditions, the increase in bonuses for non-managerial staff has been driven by a desire to both recruit and retain top talent, and as part of a broader recognition of IT professionals' contribution to the success of the business,” According to Andy Bristow, manager with Hays.
Big up the bonus
Bonuses vary in size depending on the type of organisation and sector - and there are ways to make them bigger. SMEs generally start at around 5%, rising to 10-15% for larger business and up to 20% or more within many financial service organisations. Size is usually determined by a mixture of company performance and individual key performance indicators (KPIs).
For non-managers, most businesses have set schemes meaning that scope for negotiation is limited. But employees may get the chance to beef up their bonus by negotiating their personal KPIs which can yield a bigger payout. The role that an IT professional performs can also influence the size and award of a bonus: some businesses will not offer delivery-based bonuses to project based staff at the risk of it harming quality.
Location counts
Location is significant in the bonus stakes and is more likely to affect whether you get a bonus than the size of the bonus awarded. Among IT managers, 75% of those based in inner London receive a bonus of some kind, as do 73% of those in outer London. But in the rest of the UK the figure falls to just 66%.
A similar but less marked pattern is seen among non-managerial IT professionals, with 61% of those in inner London, 53% of those in outer London and 54% of those in the rest of the UK receiving bonus payments.
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