For precisely those reasons Ryan Smith went job hunting last year. Smith was an experienced Novell networking consultant at a midsize Salt Lake City IT consulting firm. And he was increasingly dissatisfied that management failed to understand how critical it was that he keep his skills honed. And the fact that he has much more generous training opportunities was key. He believes that IT employees would be willing either to forgo salary increases or sign contracts stipulating their agreement to stay for a certain period of time, if they will be guaranteed a certain amount of training.
Flexibility is also key.
IT employees work hard for their money. First, the media and recruiters need to be more careful when publishing average salaries for technology positions. Such compensation varies widely according to region, industry and experience of applicant, and headhunters and journalists must be wary of fueling unrealistic expectations. But employers shouldn' t be complacent, either. You also need to pay attention to your employees' desires to keep their skills current.