Software architects were top earners in IT industry for second consecutive year

Amid the ‘great resignation’ in the IT industry, ‘software architects’ have held their ground as top earners for the second consecutive year. Software architects beat cloud architects and ‘product managers’ to remain top earners in the sector, a report by TeamLease Digital, a part of the recruitment firm TeamLease, said.

The salary of software architects with 2-6 years’ experience ranged between ₹13 lakh and ₹47 lakh, with an average annual salary of ₹25.5 lakh -- a 30 per cent jump over the previous year. By making choices on design and establishing guidelines for coding, tools, and platforms, a software architect streamlines the development process. It has been the highest paid IT job in India for two years, said C Sunil, CEO, TeamLease Digital.

Software architects are mission critical for any software development and they play a pivotal role from solutioning to project management and are key to architecture design. They play a pivotal role in design thinking and, often, decide the kind of software engineers required and cost optimisation of the project, said Krishna Reddy, CEO, Amnet Digital.

Architect is a role, not necessarily a rank, although it does require a high degree of technical experience and expertise, coupled with strong soft skills, including influence, involvement, and leadership across a broad array of areas (technical and functional), said anofficialof a German IT company.

Cloud architects, who define cloud architecture, make cloud strategy, and manage its implementation and deployment, took the second spot as top earners. Their salary ranged between ₹9 lakh and ₹40 lakh, with an average annual salary of ₹21 lakh - a 25 per cent increase over previous year.

The product manager coordinates the parameters of the product with the technical team, before directing its development from conception to launch. He is responsible for making an operating plan that can help achieve strategic and tactical goals and objectives and contribute to the vision of the product strategy. Product Manager salaries ranged between ₹6 lakh and ₹35 lakh, with an average annual salary of ₹16.3 lakh - a 28 per cent increase over the previous year.

Data scientists, machine learning engineers and full stack developers took the next three spots, said the report.

“The demand-supply gap of tech talent in the IT sector is likely to persist thanks to the digital boom in the technology and non-technology sectors. With companies continuing to pick up new projects amid rapid automation of businesses and a talent crunch, IT salaries are likely to stay on the higher side, said Sunil.

Owing to super cycles of digitalisation and IT companies taking up new projects, the highest paying jobs in the year 2022 continue to be the same as in 2021, he said.

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