The market pay rates for technical positions can change rapidly. Companies need to stay informed of current market pay rates to effectively recruit and retain their key technical employees.

This month, we present the ten technical positions for U.S. employees in the Culpepper Technical Compensation Survey with the greatest pay increases over the past year (Table 1).

Of the ten positions listed in Table 1, six provide technical support and two develop hardware & equipment. Companies should closely monitor retention and recruitment issues connected to compensation for these positions.

Note that all of these market pay rates increased at levels higher than the average increase budgets of 4.1% we reported for technical positions in the U.S. earlier this year. It is important to distribute salary increases wisely, taking into consideration the variability in pay rate changes by position within local markets.
 

Table 1: U.S. Technical Positions with the Highest Pay Increases
Culpepper Job Code & Title	Average Base Salary (USD)		Average Target Total Cash Comp. (USD)
	$1,000's	Change	$1,000's	Change
66808-Software Quality Assurance Technician I
Prior Year	$37.2	13.2%	$38.1	12.1%
Current Year	$42.1		$42.7
45117-Field Support Technician - General II
Prior Year	$41.1	10.9%	$41.3	11.4%
Current Year	$45.6		$46.0
45209-Associate Software Field Support Engineer
Prior Year	$39.3	12.2%	$39.9	11.3%
Current Year	$44.1		$44.4
68051-Hardware/Equipment Development Senior Manager
Prior Year	$119.0	11.1%	$134.8	10.8%
Current Year	$132.2		$149.4
68059-Associate Hardware/Equipment Developer
Prior Year	$49.7	10.9%	$50.8	10.8%
Current Year	$55.1		$56.3
45109-Associate Technical Field Support Engineer-General
Prior Year	$39.6	11.4%	$40.3	10.2%
Current Year	$44.1		$44.4
60203-Technical Customer Support Center Supervisor
Prior Year	$62.4	9.9%	$65.9	9.6%
Current Year	$68.6		$72.2
45016-Senior Field Support Project Manager-General
Prior Year	$72.3	8.4%	$76.3	9.2%
Current Year	$78.4		$83.3
64059-Associate Employee Tech Support Specialist
Prior Year	$31.8	7.9%	$32.2	8.7%
Current Year	$34.3		$35.0
63205-Advisory Systems Analyst
Prior Year	$84.2	7.4%	$87.8	8.7%
Current Year	$90.4		$95.4
Source: The Culpepper Technical Compensation Survey database. Current year values reported from data collected as of 11/1/2006. Prior year values reported from data collected as of 11/1/2005.