IT Salary Guide: An Overview of Compensation for Employers (2022)

With the pandemic pushing most companies to thrive in a remote or hybrid work setup, most have scrambled to strengthen their IT systems and infrastructure to help them operate in this setup. This has significantly increased the demand for IT professionals worldwide. In fact, by the end of 2022, the global spending for IT services is expected to reach $1.28 trillion including offshore services, up from $931 billion the five years ago, . 

More and more companies are starting to offshore their IT functions to countries with many skilled IT practitioners and lower labor costs,  such as the Philippines. Filipinos are becoming the in-demand talent globally as their skill level and English proficiency rank amongst the highest in global offshoring centers. This makes competition for employers looking to hire IT talent in the Philippines very high. 

However, there is a recipe for success available. Filipinos are very accepting of working remotely because of the fear of contracting COVID-19 and the convenience that remote work brings in a country plagued by horrendous traffic congestion. By working from home, Filipinos  can avoid the hassles of commuting and high transportation costs. Plus with more IT jobs moving to a remote work setup since the pandemic, you’ll have an enthusiastic remote-ready workforce at your disposal.

You can reel in exceptional Filipino IT talent by offering compelling benefits, engagement activities, training, and even overseas trips to work with the head office. Aside from these benefits, a competitive salary is usually the deciding factor for candidates, so it’s important that you know the industry’s salary ranges very well. 

You can define the information technology salary range in the Philippines based on the quality of the candidate. As expected, the more skillful and experienced a candidate is, the higher their salary should be. This infographic and article will discuss the different factors that determine  IT salary parameters in the Philippines and provides examples of salary ranges in various IT roles.

How to Use This Salary Guide

Business owners, managers and HR practitioners should know the determinants that affect the compensation package for IT staff. With the increasing competition in hiring high-quality IT talent, your salary offers need to be highly competitive for you to secure the talent your business needs. When it’s below a candidate’s expectations, they can easily overlook your company in favor of a competing offer, or a counter-offer from their current employer. 

This salary guide will help you understand compensation packages, build a competitive compensation package, and compare your current compensation package (if you are paying below or above the expected salary ranges). 

7 Factors to Determine IT Salary

You should adjust compensation packages based on three main elements: hard skills, soft skills, and experience. Read through the specifics of each factor below. 

Hard Skills

1. Tech Stacks

Also known as a software or development stack, a tech stack is a data ecosystem used to build and run a project or application. It consists of back-end tools, programming languages, front-end tools, frameworks, databases, and applications connected via APIs. For example, Facebook’s tech stack includes React.Js, Cassandra, Memcached, PHP, GraphQL, and many others. 

According to Third Depante, IT Recruitment Manager for Manila Recruitment, these are the most in-demand technologies:

• Node.js – Candidates who know Node.JS are likely familiar with JavaScript-based languages for front- and back-ends of a system. If they are highly proficient in both front and back end, they can be eligible for a full-stack developer position.
• Java – Most Java developers work on big projects for insurance, banks, and multinational fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies. These systems are highly complex and require technology at a scale that only Java technology can provide.
• PHP – PHP is a highly scalable tech stack used for e-commerce. Companies can start with PHP and build their systems up to enterprise levels.
• Mobile – iOS developers are in demand for mobile applications because it’s seen as the most secure framework. “However, Android is a more popular platform and will give app developers a larger user base”, ” according to Mr. Depante.

The demand for some tech stacks is high, but if they’re from newer, rarer, or emerging technologies for the Filipino IT community, there will be less candidates within the talent pool. Often these candidates command a higher salary as they are a rarer quantity. This makes it even more important that you offer the right salary amount to candidates with specialized technical skills. 

2. Theoretical Foundations

The stronger theoretical foundations a candidate has, the higher their expected salary. If they have post-grad degrees, they may even have a deeper knowledge of technology and use their skills to implement their vision for your company.

However, it’s not just their academic achievements that showcase their theoretical foundations. They can also code from scratch and build systems independently rather than Googling and pasting codes—and nothing shows skills and mastery of code more so than practical application. You can determine a candidate’s knowledge of theories and terminologies by asking some theoretical questions about the tech stack they use. There are instances when Filipino IT talent are technically sound, but their theoretical knowledge appears to be lacking when they are interviewed by international teams. In turn, those who display a stronger theoretical understanding are in higher demand, and often command a salary premium. 

Depante shares, “We can tell that 30% of the candidate’s theoretical foundations can be found in their academic backgrounds, but 70% comes from their application and mastery of the code. Those with strong foundations can solve problems through codes that won’t result in a syntax error as they know the step-by-step process of these solutions.”

Soft Skills

3. Communication Skills

IT professionals must work across many groups and teams, making excellent communication skills vital for the role. They’ll likely be collaborating with people of different nationalities, so they need to be able to explain ideas clearly and effectively if they want to be a top candidate. 

Ida Montemayor, co-founder of Manila Recruitment, says that asking situational and scenario-based questions will allow recruiters to gauge whether applicants can assert themselves or express difficult messages. 

She states, “If candidates can strike a conversation and engage, they can articulate more. If someone can’t explain what they’re doing, it’s hard to convince us that they can do their tasks. They should be able to explain how they can put their solutions from point A to point B to convince decision-makers of their expertise.” 

She adds, “These developers can be client-facing and should be comfortable speaking to C-suite executives. It takes skills and practice to be comfortable speaking with CEOs and CTOs. These are some of the things that decision-makers are looking for. If candidates meet these expectations, they can command a salary increase.” 

4. Management Skills and Experience

Some IT roles need to be self-directed, which means candidates should have the ability to manage projects well. Not only should they stick to timelines and handle the workload, but they also lead, manage, and develop a team of tech talent.

This skill is measured beyond a candidate’s resume as they need to be able to present a situation in which they’ve demonstrated management skills. However, if they have not had management experience yet, interviewers can ask leading questions to gauge their attitude and acumen.

If they show that they can do these, they’ll get a higher offer. However, salary ranges will still largely depend on the candidate’s job function.

Experience

5. Years of Experience

You wouldn’t need to handhold or heavily train a candidate with more than five years of experience; hence, they are more valuable to the workforce than fresh graduates. When candidates have more years of experience using a tech stack, they are more seasoned. They’re more likely to have solved issues and tackled different projects. Consequently, they’ll also demand a higher salary grade. 

6. Projects and Industry Involvement

Your salary offer will also consider the candidate’s project and industry involvement. Industries such as start-ups, fintech, and enterprise-level FMCG have convoluted and highly-matrixed databases and systems. They can command a higher salary if they have experience handling complex projects in such industries. 

According to Montemayor, “Start-ups tend to pay more for IT candidates. They typically don’t have a set salary band and have to compete with high-level IT talent. Their IT teams are also tasked with scaling the infrastructure of a tech start-up’s products and services.”

7. International and Offshore Work Exposure

Candidates who have worked with international teams and projects can follow international coding standards. Compared to those who have only worked locally, candidates with international and offshore experience are more exposed to a faster-paced, more autonomous, straightforward, and Western-aligned cultural environment.

A multinational experience offers a 40–50% higher salary grade than those who purely have local expertise. Depante shares, “The difference in salary is big. Exposure and communicating with foreign clients and colleagues are premium. Tasks in IT, particularly Dev ones, require a lot of collaboration. These constant meetings are done in sprints, daily standups, or scrum meetings where they have to talk about what they are doing and their next steps.”

Sample IT Salary Guide

Below are the average monthly salary rates of different IT roles in the Philippines.

• C-level – CTO, CIO, VP, and Director of IT
  • Mid to High: ₱350,000 to ₱500,000
    
• Managerial – Project Managers, Software Development Manager, and QA Manager
  • Mid to High: ₱180,000 to ₱250,000
    
• Mobile Developers
  •  Junior-level Mobile
    •  Mid to High: ₱30,000 to ₱70,000
  •  Mid-level Mobile
    •  Mid to High: ₱70,000 to ₱130,000
  • Senior-level Mobile Developers
    •  Mid to High: ₱130,000 to ₱170,000

• DevOps Engineers
  • Junior DevOps
    • Mid to High: ₱70,000 to ₱100,000
  • Mid-level DevOps
    • Mid to High: ₱100,000 to ₱130,000
  • Senior DevOps
    • High: ₱130,000 to ₱180,000

• Infrastructure 
  • Junior Infra
    • Entry to High: ₱30,000 to ₱50,000
  • Mid-level Infra
    • Mid: ₱50,000 to ₱80,000
  • Senior Infra
    • High: ₱80,000 to ₱150,000

• UI/UX Designers
  • Junior UI/UX
    • Entry to High: ₱70,000 to ₱100,000
  • Mid-level UI/UX
    • Mid: ₱100,000 to ₱130,000
  • Senior UI/UX
    • High: ₱130,000 to ₱150,000

• Desktop Support Engineer
  • Junior Desktop
    • Entry to High: ₱30,000 to ₱60,000
  • Mid-level Desktop
    • Mid: ₱60,000 to ₱100,000
  • Senior Desktop
    • High: ₱100,000 to ₱150,000

• PHP Developers
  • Junior PHP Developer 
    • Mid to High: ₱30,000 to ₱60,000
  • Mid-level PHP Developer
    • Mid to High: ₱60,000 to ₱120,000
  • Senior PHP Developer 
    • Mid to High: ₱120,000 to ₱160,000

• NodeJS Developers
  • Junior NodeJS Developer
    • Mid to High ₱60,000 to ₱100,000
  • Mid-level NodeJS Developer
    • Mid to High: ₱100,000 to ₱140,000
  • Senior NodeJS Developer
    • Mid to High: ₱140,000 to ₱170,000

• .Net Developers 
  • Junior .Net Developer
    • Mid to High: ₱40,000 to ₱70,000
  • Mid-level .Net Developer
    • Mid to High: ₱70,000 to ₱130,000
  • Senior .Net Developer
    • Mid to High: ₱130,000 to ₱170,000

• Java Developers
  • Junior Java Developer
    • Mid: ₱50,000 to  ₱70,000
    • High: ₱70,000 to ₱100,000 
  • Mid-level Java Developer
    • Mid: ₱100,000 to ₱120,000
    • High: ₱120,000 to ₱140,000
  • Senior Java Developer  
    • Mid: ₱140,000 to ₱160,000
    • High: ₱160,000 to ₱180,000

• QA Testers – Manual and Automated
  • Junior QA Tester
    • Mid: ₱50,000 to ₱70,000
    • High: ₱70,000 to ₱100,000 
  • Mid-level QA Tester
    • Mid: ₱ ₱70,000 to ₱100,000 
    • High: ₱100,000 to ₱120,000 
  • Senior QA Tester  
    • Mid: ₱120,000 to ₱140,000
    • High: ₱140,000 to ₱160,000

Partner with a Recruitment Agency for Competitive Compensation and Benefits

As businesses go digital, almost every company would need an IT department regardless of industry. It’s one of the most in-demand and highest-paying career fields that keep recruitment agencies in the Philippines busy.
However, while IT jobs appear lucrative, not all are in the same pay grade. Multiple factors affect a compensation package. If you need expert-level consultation regarding compensation and benefits, Manila Recruitment is here to help. Contact us to learn more.