Outsourcing Does Not Hurt U.S. Salaries

New research by Foote Partners, an IT research consultancy, shows that claims of salary deflation due to outsourcing by U.S. companies are exaggerated. According to the research, "18 months ago pay for networking, database, and applications skills were in 7% to 10% annual declines . . . but the pendulum has since swung to the other side as companies have become more aware of the difficulties in doing offshoring successfully." These difficulties include the high turnover rate and loss of key team members. Companies are realizing that keeping these anchor people local is far less risky than sending important responsibilities overseas.

Companies are also refocusing their energies and money on staying competitive and developing innovative applications. This new focus is driving a need for skills-specific hiring. Pay is being adjusted based on the "presence of a dominant vendor or technology skill critical to the job. For example, pay for an Oracle Database Administrator, Linux Systems Administrator, .Net Developer, or SAP/ABAP Programmer can be quite different than what an employer might provide for generic "Systems Administrator", "Programmer", and "Developer" job titles." This is good news for the certification community.

Certifications That Pay

Now for the real dirt. The numbers in the Foote Partners research are very encouraging. The pay for certified skills is definitely growing. For the purposes of this research, skill premiums are measured and are defined as salary paid either in bonuses or embedded in base pay that is adjusted for the presence of a specific skill. In fact, the "median average pay for 87 certified skills surveyed grew 3.0% for the year ending 7/1/2005, to 8% of base pay---more than a full percentage point greater than non-certified skills." Over the last 12 months, ending in July 2005, the certifications that paid the most were in the areas of development, programming, networking, systems administration, and network OS.

The certification areas with declining skill premiums over the last 12 months are beginner, web and internet, security, and database. I have to admit, this is not what I expected and it is important to note that the decline in security pay is not because of reduced interest or demand, but because of a flood of people attaining security certifications.

Based on the results, the following certifications have had 15% or more growth in skills pay premiums and are the most profitable:

• HP/Compaq Master Accredited Systems Engineer (MASE)
• HP/Compaq Accredited Systems Engineer (ASE)
• Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
• Cisco Certified Security Professional (CCSP)
• IBM Lotus Certified Advanced Application Developer
• IBM Lotus Certified Associate Systems Administrator
• Sun Certified Systems Administrator for Solaris

Other noteable certifications to hold are Cisco certs, PMP, Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), SANS/GIAC Certified Forensic Analyst (GCFA), Oracle Certified Professional (OCP), and MCSD.