Agile tool vendor, Version One released its “first annual Agile Salary survey” today on its website [PDF download]. The survey yielded some interesting results, that are worth mentioning here.
According to the survey, those North Americans aggressively using Agile techniques earn a premium of a 2.5% to 2.8% annually. The survey declines to speculate why this is. Certainly, you could interpret this to mean that Agile teams deliver sooner with higher quality, and thus are in higher demand. However, it is equally possible that only those projects with more experienced and valued professionals feel confident to experiment with Agile project management. Further complicating this observation is the breakdown of WHO actually responded to this survey:
Only 28% of respondants were involved in management, but 46% respondants were software engineers. When you consider, on average, that senior software engineers earn more than senior project managers, this may skew the results. That is, it could be that all members of an Agile team earn more than those using conventional project management. But it could also be Agile software engineers earn so much more than their conventional counterparts, it could mask the fact that there is little to no difference for project managers. That being said, I’m inclined to think that Agile project managers ARE in higher demand, especially when you consider the dramatic increase in Certified ScrumMasters, the attendance at Agile PM events, and increased interested by executives.
Finally, there was this added observation:
Not much surprise here: more experience earns more salary. Consider also that team members end up in the project manager role only after at least a few years on the job, and this aligns with common observation. Doing the math, each year of experience gets you another $2,724 annually. However, what is noteworthy is WHO has the requisite years under their belt:
While the agile community may be a young community of professionals (the majority are 39 years old or younger), it’s a very experienced group with the vast majority (70%) having at least 5 years or more of experience.
Bottom line? The survey doesn’t tell you why, but Agile Project Managers do earn more money.
