Tech salaries in the manufacturing sector lag behind the top paying industries by as much as 20%, global tech survey reveals

Tech salaries across the manufacturing industry are lagging behind top paying business sectors by as much as 20%, according to a global survey* of more than 15,000 developers and tech recruiters conducted by developer recruitment platform CodinGame.

Developers working in manufacturing earn on average US$46,329 (£33,820), compared to an average salary of $55,598 (£40,586) in the Security sector. That means average tech salaries within the Security sector are a fifth (20%) higher.

Developer salaries across the manufacturing industry are also significantly lower than those in the Technology ($55,556), Insurance ($54,188), Energy ($53,936), Finance ($53,751) and Aerospace ($53,609) sectors.

Technology is driving a new era of automation in manufacturing. Cloud computing and the rapid advances in AI, robotics and machine learning are transforming almost every facet of manufacturing, from production and design to supply chain operations.

But the report by CodinGame, suggests tech salaries aren’t keeping pace with the transformative changes, driven by technology, that are taking place across manufacturing. 

The following table shows the average developer salary (in USD) by sector

Aude Barral, co-founder of developer recruitment platform CodinGame, comments: AI security and automation experts to DevOps developers who will have a critical part to play in the ‘cloudifying’ of manufacturing.

“The problem is that there’s huge demand for highly skilled developers across all business sectors and from our experience the very best developers don’t go looking for work, they are headhunted and can name their price. 

“When it comes to choosing their next job, developers rate a competitive salary high up on their wish list, but manufacturing is lagging well behind most of the main industries when it comes to what they pay their tech teams.

“Our survey results suggest salary level is an area manufacturers are going to have to look at moving forward if they hope to attract the very best tech talent, during such a transformative period for the industry.”

* CodinGame surveyed more than 15,000 developers and HR professionals from around the world, from October 2020 to December 2020, to produce its 4th annual Developer industry Report.