Despite the shadow of slow economic times, there remains a sense of optimism among IT and business professionals. The majority of the survey respondents in this paper believe their personal economic conditions and those facing their companies will improve in 2011.

While the average IT worker salary in this year’s survey was down 3.1 percent year-over-year, it is still up eight percent compared to 2008 (the first year of this survey), and IT worker demand in multiple industries and for multiple skill sets and job functions remains strong. The world is more dependent on technology than ever, and IT workers who can continue to keep the world running and push their organizations forward with the latest innovations will remain a valuable asset.

Also, our respondents and their managers agree that training and certification improve job performance. This increase in employee effectiveness is critical to note as budgets begin to return to previous levels but still remain under scrutiny. The key, then, to job security and increasing one’s salary, as born out in the data, is improving personal job performance. Becoming a continually active learner and regularly updating IT knowledge and skills play a key role in job performance, job satisfaction, and compensation.

Continue reading to learn more about the salaries of IT professionals for 2011.