Foote Partners:Where IT Skills/Certs Demand Is Right Now At 4,661 Employers
Foote Partners, Wednesday, April 9th, 2025
This news release is a summary extract of content from the 1st Quarter 2025 editions of Foote Partners' IT Skills Demand and Pay Trends Report and IT Skills and Certification Pay Volatility Index, two market intelligence trend reports updated every 3 months from data contributed by HR departments at 4,661 U.S. and Canadian employers.
The reports contain IT jobs, skills, and certifications data trends published in the firm's IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index and deep-dive benchmark analysis from Foote Partners' research group.
As AI shifts from experimental to operational at many employers, paying IT talent is fast becoming a new ballgame. The list of AI-related skills and certifications generating cash pay premiums reported in Foote Partners' IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index (ITSCPI) has expanded from 25 to 92 skills and certifications.
648 IT certifications reported in the ITSCPI declined slightly in average market value in 1st quarter 2025 - down 0.2% - and with a nearly 5-point increase in pay volatility. 134 certifications (21%) changed in cash premiums paid by employers compared to just 103(16%) in the prior quarter, on par with the two-year average pay volatility for all certifications.
By contrast, average cash pay premiums for 723 non-certified IT skills gained 0.2% in Q1 2025, adding to a long run of quarterly increases that was only briefly interrupted by a loss in the final quarter of 2024. They are still earning much higher cash pay premiums on average than IT certifications: the equivalent of 9.6% of base salary on average compared to only 6.5% for certifications.
Market pay gains for non-certified IT skills in Q1 2025 were mostly in the Management/Methodology/Process and Web/E-commerce categories. For IT certifications, gains have been more spread out: Applications Development, Architecture/Project Mgt/Process, and Database/Data Management categories.