IT as a career path is looking brighter than what it was last year. Fewer IT staff are unemployed and most of them are feeling secure about their jobs, are anticipating bonuses and are finding work intellectually challenging as compared to what they had experienced in the past few years according to a national IT salary survey conducted by CMP Media’s InformationWeek magazine.

Fifty percent of IT management and 42% of IT staff feel secure about their IT jobs, while only nine percent of managers and 12% of staffers feel insecure about their jobs, as compared to the previous year’s 15% and 11% respectively (See Chart 1). The most lucrative jobs have been those of CIOs, CTOs and VPs among managers, and architects, system architects, sales-support engineers and project leaders among IT staff.