High Tech Wage Earners Not Gaining Ground

Wages for high-impact, experienced technology professionals fell 0.8% in the first quarter

PHILADELPHIA—May 18, 2005—Business may be looking brighter for high-tech companies, but wages for high-technology professionals decreased 0.8% overall in the first three months of 2005, compared to the first quarter of 2004, according to the latest Yoh Index of Technology Wages, the quarterly compensation index used by Fortune 100 companies to determine salary scales.

While technology wages rose 3.1% in January, wage gains were lost in February and March. San Francisco, Portland, and Philadelphia enjoyed the highest wage increases in the first quarter of 2005, while wages in Houston, Washington, and Atlanta declined.

"Wages are not growing as rapidly as might be expected, given the significant constraints on high-technology labor pools," says Jim Lanzalotto, Vice President, Strategy and Marketing for Yoh. "Companies continue to hold the line on wages. However, I think we will see wages start to climb at a somewhat faster pace as it becomes harder to find high-impact talent, and companies have to compete more aggressively to fill these positions."

Compiled quarterly by Yoh, one of the world's largest recruiting services for high-impact technology and professional talent, the Yoh Index of Technology Wages is used by emerging technology and Fortune 500 firms as a guide for determining their quarterly salary scale. Each Yoh Index identifies the top ten job titles in highest demand, and provides an index to compare current average wages over the same period last year.

The top ten high-technology job titles as determined by the Yoh Index for the first quarter of 2005 are:

1. Clinical Trial Manager
2. Microsoft ASP.NET Developer
3. Microsoft VB.NET Developer
4. SQL Developer
5. Verilog Designer
6. Software Engineer
7. Field Applications Engineer
8. Director, Regulatory Affairs
9. Design Verification Engineer
10. RFID Engineer

The Yoh Index of Technology Wages is not based on polls, surveys, projections, or other anecdotal evidence. It is built on solid data compiled from Yoh's 40 U.S. field offices, and uses actual employment activity of over 5,000 technology professionals outsourced on short- and long-term projects by over 1,000 of the nation's top employers in aviation, engineering, information technology, manufacturing, scientific, telecommunications, and utility industries.

About Yoh Index of Technology Wages
The Yoh Index of Technology Wages is based on a quarterly download of data based on actual wages of some 5,000 temporary technology labor pool hired by more than 1,000 businesses in the aviation, engineering, IT, manufacturing, scientific, telecommunications, and utility industries. The Yoh Index of Technology Wages provides a unique barometer of the changes in employer demand and supply of technology talent nationwide. For more information please visit yoh.com/yohindex.

Intended for reference only. Yoh does not make any warranty, expressed or implied, or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the completeness, usefulness, accuracy or quality of the information provided. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, the information is subject to change without notice and cannot be guaranteed to be current.