PRESS RELEASES
News Release: Q2 2026 IT Skills and Certifications Pay Premiums
In the news release at this link is a summary of the 2Q 2026 quarterly edition of Foote Partners’ IT Skills Demand and Pay Trends Report (ITSDPT) and IT Skills and Certifications Pay Volatility Index featuring analysis of cash pay premiums trend data for 1,417 certified and noncertified IT skills shared by 5,137 employers between April 1, 2026 and July 1, 2026 about their 503,375 IT professionals.
HEADLINES FROM OUR 3rd QUARTER 2026 IT SKILLS AND CERTIFICATIONS RESEARCH UPDATE:
ü The first half of 2026 saw a dramatic swing in the average cash pay premium for noncertified IT skills versus IT certifications---the largest six-month skills/certifications performance gap since 2004: nearly 6% market value decline for IT skills compared to a 2% gain for IT certifications
ü Highest quarterly skill and certifications pay volatility in 17 years, as quarter-to-quarter changes in certification premiums surge nearly 50%.
ü 752 noncertified IT skills are earning an average cash bonus equivalent to 9% of base salary; it’s only 6.5% of base salary for 665 noncertified IT certifications. This is the narrowest gap since 2019.
ü The greatest declines in noncertified IT skills pay premiums in the 2nd Quarter were in these segments; Applications Development Tools/Platforms; Data Management/Database; Operating Systems; Web/e-Commerce Development.
ü The greatest 2nd Quarter segment gains in IT certifications pay premiums: Applications Development & Programming Languages, Data Management/Database; Networking & Communications; System Administration/Engineering.
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