What IT Pros Need to Know from the Hays Salary Guide FY25/26

Top 6 Insights

1. Skills Shortage: It’s Not Just Technical

84% of organisations reported experiencing a skills shortage, but here’s the twist: the real gap isn’t purely technical. The shortage is most acute at the intermediate level of people’s careers and often comes down to human skills such as communication, adaptability, and teamwork, not coding ability alone.

2. IT Roles Among the Hardest to Fill

Technology and IT system design, particularly software design, are consistently flagged as difficult roles to recruit for. Drivers include fierce competition from other employers, salary pressures, limited graduate pipelines, and negative perceptions of workload and career progression.

3. Salaries vs. Satisfaction: A Misaligned Picture

Six in ten professionals feel underpaid, even at senior levels. Oddly, some earning over $200k are still dissatisfied, while others on under $50k are content. For IT professionals, that means salary alone will not guarantee retention. Clear pathways for progression and manageable workloads are critical.

4. AI is Reshaping Recruitment

The job market has been flooded by AI-generated CVs and applications. While this means more candidates on paper, employers are finding lower quality matches. For IT specialists, this trend is a double-edged sword: more competition in the application pile, but also more value placed on demonstrable, authentic skills.

5. Benefits: Flexibility is No Longer a Perk

Flexible working tops the list of valued benefits at 58%, followed by additional annual leave at 45%. For tech professionals, remote work remains a particularly important differentiator when considering job offers.

6. Retention: It’s About More Than Pay

While salary matters, IT professionals are swayed by career development opportunities, meaningful projects, and a strong workplace culture. Organisations that neglect these areas risk losing talent, especially as nearly two-thirds of workers say they plan to move jobs in the next year.

IT Salary Benchmarks: How Do You Compare?

Here are some of the key technology salary ranges across Australia (base salaries, excluding super):

Key Takeaway

The IT job market is rich with opportunity but increasingly complex to navigate. For professionals, the message is clear: build your human skills alongside your technical toolkit. For employers, retention means more than pay - flexibility, growth, and culture now carry equal weight.

Salaries are edging up, but the pace of increase is slowing compared to FY24/25. Combined with the widening gap between what employees expect and what employers plan to deliver, this mismatch could continue to fuel job moves in IT.

Insights and salary data sourced from the Hays Salary Guide FY25/26. Full report available at Hays.