Study Shows Recent Pay Trends In AI Skills And 1,396 IT Skills And Certification
Foote Partners, Sunday, February 8th, 2026
This news release is a summary extract of content from the 1st Quarter 2026 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 5,012 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 IndexTM and deep-dive benchmark analysis from Foote Partners' research group.
HEADLINES
Average cash pay premiums for 746 noncertified IT skills and 650 IT certifications have been on a consistent decline for 2 years. Still, 100 noncertified IT skills are earning workers bonuses equivalent to between 17% and 24% of base pay on average, and 44 IT certifications are averaging 10% to 15% cash bonuses.
Meanwhile, IT skills and certifications pay volatility is spiking: Findings from our IT Skills and Certifications Pay Volatility Index show 386 (of 1,382, or 28%) skills and certifications changed market value in 4Q 2025 compared to as few as 280 in Q1 2025.
As AI is now shifting from experimental to operational for many employers, our AI cash pay premiums coverage has ballooned to 144 certified and noncertified AI related skills from 57 eighteen months ago. Twenty-four AI related certifications are significantly outperforming their one hundred noncertified AI skill counterparts: pay premiums have risen nearly 6% in the past year compared to a 1% decline for noncertified AI skills. But noncertified AI skills still earn dramatically higher bonuses than AI certifications-averaging the equivalent of 14.5% of base salary compared to 8.3% for AI certifications.
650 IT certifications reported in Foote Partners' 4Q 2025 IT Skills and Certifications Pay Index(ITSCPI) decreased in average market value in 4 th quarter 2025, the ninth decline in the past eleven calendar quarters. Leading this skills pay erosion most recently are Database/Data Management, Applications Development & Programming Languages, and Architectur/Project Management/Process certifications.
Average cash pay premiums for 746 non-certified IT skills showed a similar decline in Q4 2025, down 0.3%, the seventh quarterly decline in the past eleven calendar quarters. Pay erosion was across the board categorically but highest for cash pay premiums in the following skills categories: Web/E-commerce, Data/Database, Operating Systems, Applications Development Tools & Platforms, and Systems & Networking.