Austin Tech Industry salaries see Largerst Jump in Country

Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012
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Bolstered by the current tech boom and a shortage of key talent, average salaries for Austin tech workers rose 12.7 percent last year the biggest jump in the country, according to a new survey.

The average 2011 pay for Austin software and engineering professionals was $89,419, according to Dice Holdings Inc., a New York-based tech jobs website.

Of the top 20 cities surveyed, Austin showed the biggest year-over-year jump in tech salaries, said Tom Silver, a Dice senior vice president.

"You're No. 1, and for technology professionals in Austin, that's a great place to be," Silver said. "There's a reason that companies like Google and Facebook open offices in Austin. They know they'll find some of the most highly skilled, top-notch talent in the country."

The survey comes as some Austin startups say they are struggling to find skilled developers in fast-growing areas such as mobile Web and cloud computing. Silicon Valley and emerging technology centers such as Seattle and Boulder, Colo., are also experiencing a tech labor crunch, which is pushing salaries upwards.

"It's really a function of supply and demand, and because demand is high, employers are going to have to pay up," Silver said.

According to the Austin Technology Council, a nonprofit organization that represents more than 200 local technology companies, several dozen Central Texas companies are recruiting technical talent, including software engineers, data engineers and information architects.

Meanwhile, Silicon Valley companies including Facebook, Google and PayPal are hiring at their offices in Austin.

"Most of us here feel like we could grow faster if we could locate the right talent," said Joel Trammell, who is chairman of the Austin Technology Council and CEO of network storage software startup Cache IQ.

"In the types of businesses we're in, the developers create new products for us to sell," Trammell said. "How fast you can grow is dependent on how many creative types you have."

Nationwide, tech workers saw the largest annual salary growth since 2008, the report said. After two straight years of nearly flat wages, tech professionals' salaries increased more than 2 percent, increasing their average annual wage to $81,327.

In Silicon Valley, tech salaries surpassed six figures for the first time last year, with wages rising 5.2 percent to an average of $104,195. It was the first time since Dice started the survey in 2001 that salaries broke the $100,000 mark.

Austin salaries vary greatly, depending on the size of the company and its ability to raise venture capital.

For senior-level software programmers, annual pay can range from $115,000 to $125,000, said Mark Cunningham, technical recruiter at tech placement agency the Bidding Network in Austin. Workers with highly sought-after skills such as mobile programming can make $130,000 to $150,000 a year, he said.

Cunningham said he recently placed a 25-year-old developer with two years' experience with an established software company expanding its Austin operations.

"They offered $85,000 a year, plus a guaranteed 15 percent bonus and stock options," Cunningham said. "There's a big demand for high-end talent, as well as for those with a few years of experience in the right areas."

By Lori Hawkins AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

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