Pay for web developers has jumped 26% over the past
year, driven by the online
social networking phenomenon and the ongoing e-commerce boom,
according to theAssociation of Technology
Staffing Companies (ATSCo).
Web developers are now among the most sought-after IT
professionals in the UK, despite seeing demand for their skills
collapse in the
dotcom crash. ATSCo said the average hourly rate for web
developers is now £29, up from £23 this time last year.
Several
Web 2.0 acquisitions in the past 12 months cemented pay rises
for web professionals, it said. These included Google's purchase of
YouTube for £883m and CBS which acquired social music site Last FM
for £140m.
ATSCo CEO Ann Swain said, "The proliferation of social
networking sites, and the increasing amount of time people are
spending online has lead to a boom in demand for online content
from advertisers looking to target these audiences."
Swain said that IT spending by UK retailers is currently
outpacing IT investment by all other sectors of the economy, with
companies such as
Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser and Debenhams all
investing heavily in new and improved e-commerce platforms during
the past 12 months.
She said websites have the potential to offer a much more
sophisticated user experience than the plain-text sites of the
1990s. "It was relatively easy to publish a decent website back
then, but now it is difficult without expert programming
skills."
ATSCo said there is now a shortage of web developers because
fewer IT graduates sought web skills after the dotcom crash. This
will continue to underpin wage rates.
Poaching is sometimes required to get the right skills, Swain
said. Employees have seen their share options become hugely
valuable and will only move for big money increases, she added.