IT salary expectations for 2022: How much can UK IT pros expect?

There’s little doubt the last two years have been tough for business. After a difficult 2020 and an unpredictable 2021, the pandemic-related obstacles facing UK businesses didn’t disappear with the arrival of 2022. COVID-19 continues to cast a shadow of uncertainty over every sector, while the “Great Resignation” could see a record number of vacancies caused by burnt-out and disgruntled workers seeking new employment opportunities.

According to recruitment specialist Robert Half’s 2022 Salary Guide, the hiring appetite for tech roles has never been higher. According to the report, remote work has driven demand for tech talent skilled in remote desktop support and virtual collaboration tools, triggering a need for quick changes and agile responses from tech pros.

The report also notes that demand for front-end developers is rising as businesses adapt to suit the new wave of online consumer behaviour caused by the pandemic. Additionally, 24% of CIOs are prioritising further cloud-based projects and initiatives, meaning the need for cybersecurity professionals will only continue to increase. (IT security skills are reportedly the most difficult to find in potential candidates.)

As with the 2021 salary guide, the 2022 installment continues to list the UK average salary ranges according to candidate percentiles. In our breakdown of the report, the lowest figure is the 50th percentile, representing an ‘average’ candidate. Last year’s salary guide provided figures for the 95th percentile, which represented elite candidates. This figure is no longer available in the 2022 report, with the 75th percentile being provided instead.

That means the “top-end” salaries will appear to be less than the figures from 2021; that’s because the threshhold being used by the recruitment firm is lower in that category.

Robert Half describe this percentile as representing a job candidate with “above-average experience; has most or all the necessary skills; may have specialised certifications.”

So which roles will see the biggest change? 

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Leadership roles

Chief information officer (CIO):

2021: £141,000 (50th percentile) – £250,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £141,000 (50th percentile) – £176,000 (75th percentile)

Chief technology officer (CTO):

2021: £120,000 – £170,000 / 2022: £130,000 – £165,000

Chief information security officer (CISO):

2021: £141,000 – £160,000 / 2022: £141,000 – £158,000

IT director:

2021: £115,000 – £150,000 / 2022: £105,000 – £114,000

Head of IT:

2021: £75,500 – £95,000 / 2022: £75,500 – £85,000

Chief architect:

2021: £100,000 – £140,000 / 2022: £100,000 – £120,000

Architecture

Enterprise architect:

2021: £122,000 (50th percentile) – £140,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £87,000 (50th percentile) – £105,000 (75th percentile)

Infrastructure architect:

2021: £70,000 – £82,000 / 2022: £74,000 – £87,000

Data architect:

2021: £71,750 – £95,750 / 2022: £78,750 – £87,000

Solution architect:

2021: £70,000 – £85,000 / 2022: £86,000 – £103,000

IT, systems, and digital transformation

Programme manager:

2021: £81,000 (50th percentile) – £115,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £81,000 (50th percentile) – £100,000 (75^th percentile)

Project manager:

2021: £54,200 – £65,000 – 2022: £60,000 – £63,000

Senior business analyst:

2021: £57,000 – £80,000 / 2022: £57,000 – £73,000

Business analyst:

2021: £40,000 – £56,000 / 2022: £40,000 – £53,000

Business intelligence and data analytics

Data scientist:

2021: £70,000 (50th percentile) – £85,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £55,000 (50th percentile) – £64,500 (75th percentile)

Data analyst:

2021: £28,000 – £35,000 / 2022: £28,000 – £34,000

Database administrator:

2021: £36,500 – £48,000 / 2022: £46,500 – £53,500

Business intelligence analyst:

2021: £42,000 – £50,000 / 2022: £39,000 – £45,000

Cloud, infrastructure, and engineering

Infrastructure manager:

2021: £55,000 (50th percentile) – £76,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £65,000 (50th percentile) – £74,000 (75th percentile)

Network manager:

2021: £55,000 – £70,000 / 2022: £63,000 – £71,000

Network engineer:

2021: £50,000 – £65,000 / 2022: £53,000 – £59,000

IT support manager:

2021: £42,000 – £50,000 / 2022: £44,000 – £48,000

Network administrator:

2021: £39,000 – £45,000 / 2022: £39,000 – £43,000

IT support manager:

2021: £40,000 – £50,000 / 2022: £44,000 – £48,000

First line support:

2021: £22,750 – £28,600 / 2022: £24,000 – £27,000

Compliance, audit, risk, and security

Information security manager:

2021: £68,000 (50th percentile) – £85,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £70,000 (50th percentile) – £84,000 (75th percentile)

Security network engineer:

2021: £51,750 – £68,500 / 2022: £53,750 – £64,000

Security systems administrator:

2021: £44,000 – £60,000 / 2022: £46,000 – £54,000

Security architect:

2021: £63,750 – £95,750 / 2022: £65,750 – £74,750

Software development, testing, and DevOps

Head of engineering:

2021: £75,250 (50th percentile) – £96,000 (95th percentile) / 2022: £91,000 (50th percentile) – £105,000 (75th percentile)

Lead engineer:

2021: £64,500 – £100,00 / 2022: £65,250 – £77,250

Fullstack developer:

2021: £42,000 – £57,000 / 2022: £48,000 – £65,000

Devops Engineer:

2021: £60,500 – £75,000 / 2022: £57,500 – £66,000

Devops Manager:

2021: £65,000 – £80,000 / 2022: £66,000 – £74,000

Test manager:

2021: £42,250 – £67,750 / 2022: £48,350 – £58,250

Test analyst:

2021: £35,000 – £48,500 / 2022: £35,000 – £40,000