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The UK’s IT professionals are ignoring hefty pay packets on offer in the Middle East, where some foreign security experts are pocketing 100% premiums. Scarcity of IT security skills in the area is so high that clients are now into their third successive year of raising monthly pay, which will reach £7,600 by the end of 2008. But the database of Oger Systems, which released the figures, shows that in 2007, just 2% of the IT jobs sourced for regional clients went to Britons. Security techies from India and Brazil, where pay is lower than in the UK, accounted for almost of half of the job-takers, with some reporting salary increases of 100%. The database shows network security engineers, information security managers and senior network security consultants were the most popular roles in 2007. Such personnel went to the region from Korea, Malaysia, Pakistan and the United States, Oger said, illustrating the global appeal of premium rates buoyed by runaway demand. David Michaux, its security manager, said there has been a huge regional increase in the salaries being offered in the Middle East area, which are “easily surpassing those being offered by the West.” “Not only are our successful applicants earning in a tax-free environment, but they are on multiples of the rates they were being paid back home,” he added. “If their home countries can't or won't pay them competitive rates, they have reason not to move [from the Middle East]. And they're coming here in the thousands.” Steve Anson, a director of Forward Discovery, a US-based IT security consultancy, started operations in the UAE last month to provide combined security services and training in the region. “The volume of high-profile corporations relying on networked systems for their daily operations represents a fertile hunting ground for hackers and other cyber criminals," he said. “Where there is a high potential for cyber crime, there is also a great need for information security, computer forensics, and incident response training and services.” Anson, an ex-cybercrime investigator for the FBI, says that as the number of cyber crime incidents rise, so too does law enforcement’s and government’s demand for advanced IT criminal investigation training. Oger predicted the strong demand for computer security staff will continue owing to “US terror concerns”, serving to exert further upward pressure on monthly pay rates. Its timeline of rising demand for IT security workers in the Middle East follows: • 2001: No separate division existed within most major corporations in the region; • 2002: Saw the introduction of hiring basic security engineers who were in the IT department with an average salary of £507 p/m • 2003: Saw IT security departments established as separate entities within the IT department. Salary of an IT security manager at around £1,520 • 2004 and 2005: Saw the IT security department starting to stand by itself, no longer reporting to the IT department, but more toward internal audit and chief financial officer, Salary of IT manager around £3,040 • 2006: Saw the market demand for security personnel increase dramatically, and due to the lack of IT security personnel within the country, salaries got their highest rise. Poaching of staff within the country became a major issue. Salary for an IT security manager was approximately £4,560. • 2007: Due to the high amount of poaching of skilled IT staff, companies started to look outside the country for supply, offering packages of over £5,580; • 2008: Expecting to see salaries for some skilled IT security staff reaching £7,609. Apr 11, 2008 Email this article Printer friendly page Previous Page
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