Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

Versatility is a prized commodity in any workplace. The AXELOS ITIL Foundation credential (No. 44 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) can help IT professionals fill a variety of job roles: service support engineers, quality analysts, database administrators, operations managers, project managers, tech support specialists, and more.

Here's what the salary picture looks like for ITIL Foundation holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $117,580
Median Annual Salary: $111,390
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 6.4 percent
Very Satisfied: 26.4 percent
Satisfied: 37.6 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 26.4 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 3.2 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $71,470
Median Annual Salary: $63,750
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 4.4 percent
Very Satisfied: 15.8 percent
Satisfied: 37.4 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 32.3 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 10.1 percent

The ITIL framework is popular around the world, so while 43.6 percent of ITIL Foundation holders who participated in the survey live and work in the United States, it's no surprise that we also heard from credential holders in 41 different countries: Albania, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Gambia, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Men outnumber women across the board in the IT industry, and that's true here as well: only 6.4 percent of ITIL Foundation holders who responded to the survey are women. Also in keeping with prevailing IT trends, most ITIL Foundation holders are solidly middle-aged, either between the ages of 35 and 44 (46.8 percent of those surveyed) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (22.7 percent). There are outliers at both ends of the age spectrum, with roughly 15 percent of those surveyed either between the ages of 19 and 24 (0.4 percent) or between the ages 25 and 34 (14.9 percent), and the remaining 15 percent either between the ages of 55 and 64 (14.5 percent) or between the ages of 65 and 74 (0.7 percent).

Close to 90 percent of the ITIL foundation holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of formal education completed by most ITIL Foundation holders is either a bachelor's degree (40.2 percent of respondents), master's degree (37.6 percent), associate's degree (5.4 percent), doctorate (3.5 percent), or professional degree (2.1 percent). That leaves the roughly 10 percent of respondents who never set foot across the threshold of an ivy tower, either topping out with some form of post-high school technical training (6.7 percent) or exiting the realm of formal education after completing high school (3.2 percent), with the remaining 1.4 percent of those surveyed currently in school.

All but a sliver of the ITIL Foundation holders we heard from are employed full-time — 95.3 percent of respondents — with 1.7 percent holding part-time employment, 2.7 percent out of work altogether, and 0.3 percent who are currently students. Among those who have full-time jobs, most are at work either for the standard 40 hours per week (33.6 percent of those surveyed) or put in between 41 and 50 hours per week (47.7 percent). The rest are either working super hard, putting in more than 50 hours per week (9.5 percent of respondents), or are getting off easy, putting in either between 31 and 39 hours per week (8.5 percent) or between 20 and 30 hours per week (0.7 percent).

The COVID-19 pandemic shifted a lot of workers from traditional office workspaces to a home-based setup. Roughly 70 percent of ITIL foundation holders who participated in the survey enjoy the freedom of sweatpants for more than half the work week, working from home either between 21 and 30 hours per week (6.4 percent), between 31 and 39 hours per week (12 percent), 40 hours per week (18 percent), or more than 40 hours per week (35 percent). The remaining 29 percent work from home either fewer than 10 hours per week (20.1 percent) or between 10 and 20 hours per week (8.5 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of ITIL Foundation holders who participated in the survey, 32.9 percent of those surveyed, are employed at thesenior specialist level. The rest, in descending order, are either managers (23.1 percent), specialists (12.7 percent), senior managers (11.4 percent), directors (11.1 percent), executives (3.1 percent), or rank-and-file employees (5.7 percent).

A little more than half (55.7 percent) of the ITIL Foundation holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (6 percent), between 3 and 5 years (16.9 percent), between 6 and 8 years (13.1 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (8.3 percent).

Finally, here's the view of ITIL Foundation holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 44.9 percent
Several times a week: 34.7 percent
Several times a month: 13.1 percent
Occasionally: 7.3 percent
Rarely: [No responses]

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 34.7 percent
Agree: 46.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15 percent
Disagree: 1.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.6 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 27.1 percent
Agree: 47.1 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 20.7 percent
Disagree: 3.2 percent
Strongly Disagree: 1.9 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 26.1 percent
Agree: 47.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 19.2 percent
Disagree: 4.5 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.2 percent

PAST ITIL FOUNDATION DEEP FOCUS FEATURES

2020

2019

2018

2017