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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.
There are a lot of acronyms in IT, but Information Technology Inftrastructure Library (ITIL) is a good one to commit to memory. ITIL fluency can make you more employable across a range of IT specializations, and there are a growing number of employers both inside and outside the technology sphere who value ITIL certification.
AXELOS, the company that manages ITIL certification, has a variety of credentials available. AXELOS ITIL Foundation (No. 24 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) is the first step toward obtaining most of its more advanced and specialized cousins.
Here's what the salary picture looks like for AXELOS ITIL Foundation holders who responded to the Salary Survey:
All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $125,190
Median Annual Salary: $113,750
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 6.5 percent
Very Satisfied: 26.5 percent
Satisfied: 38 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 22.5 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 6.5 percent
All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $65,780
Median Annual Salary: $62,670
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 4.1 percent
Very Satisfied: 15.8 percent
Satisfied: 39.4 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 32 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 8.7 percent
The ITIL framework is popular around the world, so while 45.4 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 62 other countries: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Czech Republic, Denmark, Djibouti, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Estonia, France, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Morocco, Namibia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.
Men outnumber women across the board in the IT industry, and that’s true here as well: only 12.7 percent of ITIL Foundation holders who responded to the survey are women, compared to 83.6 percent who are men. That leaves 2.7 percent who prefer not to disclose their gender, 0.4 percent who are transgender male, 0.4 percent who are gender variant/nonconforming, and 0.2 percent who are transgender female. Also in keeping with prevailing IT trends, most ITIL Foundation holders are solidly middle-aged, either between the ages of 35 and 44 (45.6 percent of those surveyed) or between the ages of 45 and 54 (28.3 percent). There are outliers at both ends of the age spectrum, with roughly 18 percent of those surveyed either between the ages of 19 and 24 (0.9 percent) or between the ages 25 and 34 (16.8 percent), and the remaining 9 percent either between the ages of 55 and 64 (7.5 percent) or between the ages of 65 and 74 (0.9 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 (42.6 percent of respondents), master’s degree (37 percent), associate’s degree (6.1 percent), doctorate (2.5 percent), or professional degree (1.4 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 (5 percent), exiting the realm of formal education after completing high school (2.5 percent), or entering the workforce with no formal education (0.9 percent), with the remaining 2 percent of those surveyed currently in school.
All but a handful of the ITIL Foundation holders we heard from are employed full-time — 89.8 percent of respondents — with 3.9 percent holding part-time employment, 3.3 percent out of work altogether, 1.2 percent who are on sabbatical, and 1.8 percent who are currently students. Among those who have full-time jobs, most are at work either for the standard 40 hours per week (40.3 percent of those surveyed) or put in between 41 and 50 hours per week (38.9 percent). The rest are either working super hard, putting in more than 50 hours per week (12.5 percent of respondents), or are getting off easy, putting in either between 31 and 39 hours per week (7.1 percent), between 20 and 30 hours per week (0.5 percent), or fewer than 20 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 65 percent of ITIL foundation holders who participated in the survey enjoy the freedom to wear sweatpants for more than half the work week, working from home either between 21 and 30 hours per week (14.6 percent), between 31 and 39 hours per week (14 percent), 40 hours per week (15.6 percent), or more than 40 hours per week (19.5 percent). The remaining 35 percent work from home either fewer than 10 hours per week (25.6 percent) or between 10 and 20 hours per week (10.3 percent).
In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of ITIL Foundation holders who participated in the survey, 29.4 percent of those surveyed, are employed at the senior specialist level. The rest, in descending order, are either managers (21.7 percent), senior managers (17.5 percent), specialists (10.2 percent), rank-and-file employees (8.1 percent), directors (7.9 percent), or executives (5.2 percent).
Nearly half (46.7 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 (6.8 percent), between 3 and 5 years (19.2 percent), between 6 and 8 years (15 percent), or between 9 and 10 years (12.3 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: 46.3 percent
Several times a week: 29.6 percent
Several times a month: 11.9 percent
Occasionally: 8.7 percent
Rarely: 3.5 percent
Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 38.5 percent
Agree: 38.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 15.2 percent
Disagree: 4 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4 percent
Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 31 percent
Agree: 44.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 16.5 percent
Disagree: 5 percent
Strongly Disagree: 3.1 percent
Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 24.2 percent
Agree: 44.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 23.8 percent
Disagree: 4.3 percent
Strongly Disagree: 3.3 percent
PAST ITIL FOUNDATION DEEP FOCUS FEATURES
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