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Skilled, middle-tier IT staff get the biggest pay increases

Pay rises for skilled, mid-level support and technical staff are highest in the IT sector because of skills shortages.

Research from the Incomes Data Services (IDS) reveals that these pay increases are much higher than the industry average as the median salary for IT user support technicians is 13% greater than it was last year and network systems engineers have seen their pay jump by 9.5%.

This is despite the fact that 40% of companies have experienced difficulties recruiting and retaining IT staff in the past year.

The number of applicants for IT degree courses has dropped by 48% since 2001 and IDS believes that a skills gap is developing that is fuelling the wage inflation in the middle tier of the IT industry.

Ken Mulkearn, editor of the IDS Pay in IT Report 2008, said: "As the UK IT sector continues to specialise increasingly in more high-end technical work, and more entry-level jobs are outsourced overseas, there are fewer opportunities for graduates and others with less experience to get a foot on the first rung of the career ladder."