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 These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.

Massachusetts-based Pegasystems, which frequently shortens its name to Pega, prides itself on providing industry-leading solutions for customer engagement and intelligent automation. The challenge for a Pega Certified Decisioning Consultant (PCDC) (No. 34 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list) is to design and develop decision management and customer decision solutions.

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

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $116,040
Median Annual Salary: $110,000
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: [No responses]
Very Satisfied: 34.2 percent
Satisfied: 25 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 32.5 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 8.3 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $77,120
Median Annual Salary: $73,130
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: [No responses]
Very Satisfied: 26 percent
Satisfied: 33.3 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 29.6 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 11.1 percent

The largest single body of PCDC holders who responded to the survey is made up of U.S. residents (30.8 percent of those surveyed), but we also heard from credential holders in 11 other countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands, Poland, Sri Lanka, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

A dash more than 10 percent of PCDC holders who participated in the survey are women, which is a relatively strong showing against the typically overwhelming number of male credential holders. The PCDC crowd is surprisingly youthful, with nearly 85 percent of those surveyed younger than 45, either between the ages of 19 and 24 (2.6 percent), between the ages of 25 and 34 (48.7 percent) or between the ages of 35 and 44 (33.3 percent). The outliers are the 7.7 percent of respondents who are between the ages of 45 and 54, and the 7.7 percent who are between the ages 55 and 64.

More than 90 percent of the PCDC holders we heard from have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of education completed by most PCDC holders is either a bachelor's degree (53.8 percent of those surveyed), master's degree (30.8 percent), or professional degree (7.7 percent). Everyone else either concluded their educational endeavors after completing some level of post-high school technical training (2.6 percent of respondents) or exited the realm of formal education after completing high school (5.1 percent).

A rare and impressive 100 percent of PCDC holders who responded to the survey are employed full-time. For most, that means a work schedule that is either the standard 40 hours per week (30.8 percent of those surveyed) or between 41 and 50 hours per week (51.3 percent). For everyone else, a full-time work schedule means either more than 50 hours per week (7.7 percent of respondents) or between 31 and 39 hours per week (10.2 percent).

The COVID-19 pandemic has doubtless changed the extent to which PCDC holders are spending those hours at a traditional workplace — a disclaimer that applies across the board to our 2020 Deep Focus series, incidentally. Survey data shows that, at least pre-pandemic, more than 85 percent of PCDC holders were at least figuratively chained to their desks, working from home either fewer than 10 hours per week (63.9 percent) or between 10 and 20 hours per week (22.2 percent). The rest had the freedom to work from home for either between 21 and 30 hours per week (5.6 percent of respondents) or more than 40 hours per week (8.3 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of PCDC holders we heard from (69.6 percent of respondents) are employed at the senior specialist level. The rest, in descending order, are either specialists (15.2 percent of those surveyed), managers (8.7 percent), rank-and-file employees (4.3 percent), or senior managers (2.2. percent).

Fewer than one-third (28.3 percent) of the PCDC holders who responded to the survey are IT veterans, having worked in a role that directly utilizes their certified skills for more than a decade. The rest have been plying their certified skills for between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (13 percent of respondents), between 3 and 5 years (26.1 percent), between 6 and 8 years (17.4 percent of respondents), or between 9 and 10 years (15.2 percent).

Finally, here's the view of PCDC 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: 67.4 percent
Several times a week: 19.6 percent
Several times a month: 2.2 percent
Occasionally: 4.3 percent
Rarely: 6.5 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 50 percent
Agree: 45.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 6.5 percent
Disagree: [No responses]
Strongly Disagree: [No responses]

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 36.9 percent
Agree: 45.7 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 6.5 percent
Disagree: 8.7 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.2 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 36.9 percent
Agree: 41.3 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 8.7 percent
Disagree: 10.9 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.2 percent