FOR those worried that Singapore's thriving information technology (IT) industry may hit a speed breaker due to rising costs, there is cause for some cheer.

A new global study by human resources (HR) consulting firm Mercer on IT pay structures around the world shows that Singapore IT salaries are still significantly lower than those in Europe and the US.

In fact, they are also significantly lower than salaries in Hong Kong and Australia, two other high cost destinations in the Asia-Pacific.

According to Mercer, six of the world's top 10 highest-paying countries for IT managers are in Western Europe.

Switzerland pays the highest salaries followed by Denmark, Belgium and the UK. The US and Canada are ranked sixth and eighth, respectively.

Neo Siew Khim, Mercer's Asia-Pacific business leader for information product solutions, noted that the lowest paid IT employees this year tend to be those in Asian markets.

Ms Neo noted: "IT professionals in Hong Kong and Australia are the only two Apac markets to make it on the list of the top 10 best-paid globally, with a ranking of ninth and tenth respectively."

Mercer's 2007 IT Pay Around the World survey compared the total annual cash compensation and total remuneration information for IT staff in 6,545 companies in 35 different countries.

Based on gross annual total cash (ATC), IT staff at all levels are paid the most in Switzerland, with an IT manager earning US$140,959 in annual compensation. According to the methodology used by Mercer, ATC typically includes base pay plus guaranteed cash and annual incentives.

In comparison, an IT manger in Singapore doing the same job earns less than half that salary at US$66,615 on average.

In Hong Kong, an IT professional doing the same job earns US$90,344 annually, while in Australia the position fetches US$88,846.

Interestingly, the same job in Japan actually fetches less than the  Hong Kong and Australia salaries, at US$87,638. In the US, an IT manager is paid US$107,500.

The survey found that IT managers in Vietnam, Bulgaria and the Philippines receive the lowest pay, respectively, at US$15,470, US$22,240 and US$22,280 a year. Indian IT managers were fourth from the bottom, earning an average of US$25,000.

In China, an IT manager in Beijing would earn on the average US$36,223, while his Shanghai-based counterpart would earn slightly less at US$33,768.

In the more junior positions of IT professional specialist, a worker in Switzerland earns around US$132,244 annually. In contrast, in Singapore a person doing the same job earns just US$47,575 annually. 

Hong Kong pays US$59,277, while in Australia the average salary is US$80,377.

A computer programmer or analyst programmer in Singapore would be earning around US$20,317 annually. A person doing the same job in Switzerland would earn US$91,062.

In Hong Kong the job fetches US$48,412, while Australia pays US$42,923.

According to David Van De Voort, IT workforce specialist in Mercer's Chicago office, the impact of outsourcing and off-shoring on IT roles in North America and Western Europe helps explain the pattern of global pay.

"Lower-level roles are being moved to regions where talent is cheaper; the jobs that remain in Western Europe and the US may be fewer in number but are more demanding and complex roles like vendor relationship manager, internal consultant and IT business partner," Mr Van noted.

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