KEY POINTS:
More IT & T workers are demanding flexible hours and conditions, according to the 2007 Hudson IT & T Remuneration Guide launched recently.
Increasing demands for more flexible working conditions come as salaries in the IT & T sector have slowed over the past year.
This years survey shows a strong new trend for permanent IT & T employees, particularly those over 40 years old, to want to work four days a week. Traditionally, this option has been mainly available to IT & T contract employees.
More permanent employees are also demanding to work remotely, either from home or away from their employers main offices, or are converting to career contracting, choosing short-term or project-oriented work offshore, the survey shows.
National IT & T practice leader at Hudson, Campbell Hepburn, says more contractors, are also working fewer hours - around 30 hours a week compared with 40 to 50 in the past.
The exception to the trend of salaries plateauing is with hard-to-find skill sets, says Hepburn.
"Despite the skills shortage in the IT & T sector, the market can't sustain rising salaries to meet demands. This survey shows salaries have levelled out compared with 2006 when they increased by two to five per cent," he said. This is partly because businesses now accept IT & T as part of their business and no longer as a specialist area.
