Tech salaries just hit record highs. But nearly half of IT staff still feel underpaid

A "widespread hunger" for technology professionals has see the average salary for technologists in the US hit a record high of $104,566 in 2021 – and yet, nearly half of tech workers feel they are underpaid.

The latest Dice Tech Salary Report found that 61% of technologists received a salary increase last year, up from 52% in 2020. Web developers saw the biggest increase in pay, shooting up by more than a fifth (21.3%) to $98,912, while the highest salaries were demanded by IT management, whose pay rose 6% to $151,983 between 2020 and 2021. READ MORE

Pay Transparency, Pay Equity, Salary History—What’s New for 2022

The new year ushered in new laws in states and cities across the U.S. requiring companies to post salary ranges on jobs, refrain from asking about job candidates’ salary history, and more. Christine Hendrickson, vice president of strategic initiatives at Syndio, a tech company that helps employers analyze pay data, details some of the new laws and what employers must do to comply. READ MORE

Getting Ahead of this Proxy Season

Investor losses resulting from stock market crashes have driven most major turns in corporate governance. In this century, director independence and audit/accounting assurance came into focus after the dotcom bubble and Enron; executive compensation and shareholder influence took center stage after the Financial Crisis.

Today's fixation on ESG/DEI is different. READ MORE

Stanford GSB Graduated The Highest-Paid MBAs Of All Time In 2021

Stanford has released its 2021 MBA employment report, the last top school to do so

As we’ve seen in the release of employment reports from top-25 programs throughout fall and winter, the pandemic whirlwind has failed to cause long-term damage to job prospects for MBAs from elite business schools. If you want further evidence, take it from the top top program: Stanford Graduate School of Business. READ MORE

Microsoft’s Activision deal may give scandal-plagued CEO a $375 million windfall

Last year, Activision Blizzard Inc. Chief Executive Officer Bobby Kotick received a 50% pay cut. This year, he’s up for a $375.3 million windfall.

That’s the amount the video-game executive stands to receive before taxes when Microsoft Corp. completes its $68.7 billion deal to buy Activision. It’s a remarkable payout for a leader whose recent tenure has been marked by employee complaints over sexism, a hostile work culture and mismanagement of assault claims. READ MORE 

The Redesign of a Decades-Old Pay Structure

Knowing when and how to refresh your compensation program is a challenge faced by all compensation professionals. It is especially challenging in a well-established organization where the program has been the same for years, or even decades.  

That was the case for Mayo Clinic. Pondering the question, “Is our compensation program meeting the current needs of our organization and helping us to advance into the future?” led Mayo Clinic on a path to refresh a pay structure that had been in place for 20 years. READ MORE

Companies Should Consider Modifying "Change In Control" Definitions In Executive Compensation Arrangements To Avoid Unintended Payment Trigger

Last year, a federal court considered whether a "change in control" had occurred under the terms of a company's Executive Severance Agreement (the "ESA"). The court's decision provides guidance on how a court might interpret a change in control definition under executive compensation arrangements and highlights the need for some companies to consider modifying their definitions for clarity. READ MORE