IT salaries and recruiting trends in 2024

20.12.2023 – The IT industry is constantly changing and so are the mechanisms of recruitment and salary structures. Our comprehensive salary survey provides the latest insights and paints a clear picture of expected developments for 2024.

Current developments in IT recruiting for 2024

1. Data management as a priority

Companies are increasingly focusing on improving their data infrastructures to facilitate the transition to cloud services and create a solid foundation for AI implementations.

2. Increasing cyber security

With the increasing complexity of AI systems, new digital threats continue to grow and evolve. In response, organisations are strengthening their security measures to manage the new threat landscape.

3. Return to face-to-face work

Although hybrid working models are widespread, organisations are striving for an increased office presence to promote team spirit and collaboration. Nevertheless, flexibility in the form of home office days, which employees can organise themselves, remains an important factor. The ability to work spontaneously from home supports the compatibility of work, family and leisure time and is seen as an essential component of modern work cultures.

Strategies for future-orientated HR management

Diversity in talent acquisition

Companies that also consider non-German-speaking applicants when recruiting are often able to attract suitable talent more quickly. They overcome the language barrier challenge by offering in-house language training.

Specifying AI skills in the recruitment process

An effective HR strategy in artificial intelligence requires companies to go beyond the buzzword "AI" and instead offer a detailed description of the specialisations they are looking for – such as machine learning or deep learning. This makes it possible to target those talents who can fulfil the company's requirements with their specific skills and experience.

Strengthening IT security

Given the shortage of specialised IT security experts, companies that rethink are particularly successful. Rather than just seeking candidates with years of experience, flexible recruitment criteria and investment in training can bring significant benefits. With internal training programmes and mentoring, even ambitious newcomers can grow into sought-after security experts, counteracting the skills shortage and strengthening the company's talent pool.

Promotion through further training

Investing in professional development is a decisive factor for IT experts. Companies that offer their employees access to further training and cover the costs of professional certificates position themselves favourably in the competition for qualified workers.

If you are also looking for suitable IT professionals, please submit your job vacancy to us and we will contact you as soon as possible to assist you.

Prospects for applicants

Further training is becoming increasingly important for applicants. Qualifications in project management and industry-specific certificates such as SCRUM, Prince2 and ITIL can offer decisive advantages. In addition to professional qualifications, social skills and personality are increasingly decisive factors in job interviews.

Salary trends in 2024

Salaries in the IT sector have already reached a very high level and are expected to stagnate or continue to rise slightly for sought-after positions. This means a salary increase of up to 2% for the position of IT Governance Consultant and 5% for the role of Data Scientist. This reflects the increasing value of these skills in the market.

Although only 53% of IT professionals expect a salary increase in 2024, 70% of organisations in our survey say they intend to pay their IT specialists a salary increase in 2024.

Our most recent study also shows that more than half of IT specialists can expect a bonus in the coming year.

The expectations of qualified applicants are often still orientated towards the upper end of the salary spectrum. Experienced candidates, particularly in senior roles such as data management, sometimes set their salary expectations at up to €140,000 – a sum that exceeds the financial parameters of some companies.

If you are interested in further exciting market and salary developments, you can access our current salary survey here.