Oracle Database Administrators, Developers See Salaries Rise Despite Recession

by Brian Prince

While the largest percentage of Oracle technology pros is in the $80,001 to $100,000 range, 33 percent of the respondents are making more than $100,000. That represents a slight increase from 2008. The average salary is $95,900.

Most respondents said they were not impacted by the economy. However, others reported everything from forced furloughs to job restructuring.

The salary difference between those with certifications and those without was about $2,000. Researchers asked respondents if they held certifications in a range of Oracle and general IT areas, including Oracle 10g and Oracle 9i. A majority of the survey’s DBA respondents reported having no certifications. However, the survey also found that DBAs with certifications are more likely to make above $100,000 than those without them.

Among specialty areas, those DBAs involved in the management of very large databases-in the multi-terabyte range-are the most well compensated in terms of specialty area, the survey finds. Overall, 37 percent of the DBAs responding to this survey report they specialize in multi-terabyte sites, and their average base salary is more than $100,000.

According to the survey, experience can go a long way. By the time a DBA has more than two decades’ worth of experience, he or she is averaging a base salary of close to $107,000 a year. More experienced DBAs also are more likely to express satisfaction in their jobs, according to the research.

In the survey, the researches combined the categories of developers (or programmers) and analysts into a single category. The base salary for this group is close to $82,000 this year. The percentage of those making more than $100,000 has inched up three percent this year.

While many analysts/developers in the survey spend most of their time in application development, many also spend a lot of time in data warehousing/business intelligence initiatives and project management activities.

IT managers in this survey were more likely to see bonuses than other job categories—a reversal of last year’s study, when the opposite was true.

Nearly 90 percent of the management respondents spend most of their time engaged in team and staff management activities, and eight out of 10 say their days are spent in project management-related activities. Almost 40 percent also reported spending a lot of time involved in database performance management activities.