Press Release No. 13/2017 ICT Industry Study: Better Wages and Working Conditions Through Collective Bargaining Agreements

Frankfurt am Main – Employees in the information technology and telecommunications (ICT) sector saw significant income increases again last year. Thanks to the collective bargaining agreement reached by IG Metall in the metal and electrical industries, the incomes of employees at companies covered by collective bargaining agreements rose by 2.8 percent, while employees at companies not covered by such agreements received an income increase of only 1.6 percent.

The positive impact of collective bargaining agreements is particularly evident in the case of project managers. Compared to the previous year, they received a 2.6 percent increase in income at companies covered by collective bargaining agreements, while the increase at companies not covered by such agreements was only 1 percent. Overall, the salaries of employees in this job category at companies covered by collective bargaining agreements are as much as 8.6 percent higher than those of employees at companies not covered by such agreements.

Working conditions have also improved more for employees covered by collective bargaining agreements. For example, working hours in companies not covered by collective bargaining agreements are 7 percent longer than in those that are. “This shows that collective bargaining agreements ensure significantly better pay and working conditions,” said Christiane Benner, Second Chair of IG Metall, on Friday in Frankfurt. The data comes from IG Metall’s latest pay survey for the ICT sector, which the union publishes annually in the run-up to CeBIT.

With over one million employees, the ICT sector is the second-largest industrial employer in Germany. Current trends such as big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and Industry 4.0 are driving strong demand for software specialists. This is also reflected in the trend of entry-level salaries: In 2016, they rose by 2.6 percent compared to the previous year. IG Metall anticipates that digitalization and the associated technological upheavals will lead to a further shift in occupational fields within the ICT sector. “One of the biggest challenges will be keeping employees’ knowledge and skills up to date with the latest technology. Education and training must therefore become the guiding principle of the digital workforce,” said the union representative. A modern work-time policy is a central component of this. “We need innovative work-time models that give employees more time and space for education and training,” Benner demanded.

The brochure “Compensation in the ICT Sector 2017” was published for the 19th time and makes a significant contribution to greater transparency regarding incomes in the ICT sector. With over 39,000 compensation data points from more than 152 companies, it has for many years provided a well-founded overview of current annual salaries and their trends, broken down by the sector’s individual job families. It also contains detailed information on apprenticeships and dual study programs.

Note to editors:
You can find the IG Metall booth at CeBIT in Hall 11, Booth D10/1 (Job & Career Market).