IT labour market – the highest growth in earnings outside of Warsaw

Ten post dostępny jest także w języku: polski

Directly growing demand and at the same time limited supply of IT specialists results in growing payroll pressure in the industry. Salaries of IT employees are twice as high as in the whole economy and year on year they are growing. Despite the fact that the highest salaries are paid to specialists working in Warsaw, the salaries of IT specialists in other cities are growing faster than in the capital city. Due to the IT employee market and clear salary pressure, IT specialists are one of the best paid professions in Poland. According to data published in PMR’s new report “Labour market and IT pay structure in Poland 2018. Market analysis and development forecasts for 2018-2023”, the median gross monthly remuneration of IT specialists in Poland in 2017 amounted to nearly PLN 10.4 thousand and was higher than the corresponding figure a year earlier by over PLN 700. For comparison, in 2016, the net increase in IT earnings amounted to nearly PLN 600 gross.

Wages in IT are therefore significantly higher than in the whole economy – in 2017, the average monthly salary in Poland amounted to PLN 4.27 thousand. Higher salaries can be expected mainly by experts with several years of experience in the industry, having narrow or most sought after specializations on the market. The best salaries are paid to those employed in the largest Polish cities – in Warsaw, Kraków and Wrocław (PLN 11.3-12.8 thousand gross per month). Nevertheless, while Warsaw is still the most expensive IT centre, specialists working in other cities can count on the highest salary increase. This is due to the progressive development and convergence of the IT market at the regional level and, consequently, its decentralisation and growing importance of location outside the capital city. In addition, the highest IT payroll ceiling in Warsaw, the human resources potential in the IT sector and the high level of technological development limit the scale of wage pressure in the capital. PMR’s payroll statistics show that in 2017, in nominal terms, IT staff salaries in Wrocław, Kraków and Poznań grew the fastest, surpassing the average gross salary growth rate in Warsaw by PLN 100. Last year, higher pay rises were also experienced by IT specialists from the Tri-City and Szczecin.

The scale of the increase in salaries of IT specialists employed in these locations is dictated by their strong development position. Particularly important in this respect are the growing number of foreign investments, both in the IT market and beyond. Less competition and lower staff turnover attracts investors to locations other than the central location. In the context of the growing level of IT remuneration, this is of twofold importance: on the one hand, international investments located on the Polish market increase the number of vacancies for IT specialists and increase the wage pressure, while on the other hand, the impact of a trend in which the remuneration offered to IT employees is higher in companies with a majority of foreign capital is significant. This will be due to the increasingly blurred difference in IT wage levels in Poland and other countries as a result of the stabilisation of wages abroad and the increase in wages on the local market. This trend will be visible at the level of individual cities – the greatest wage pressure will be exerted in the cities with the highest IT pay rises – mainly in Szczecin, Poznań, Kraków and Wrocław.