It’s all about the perks

It is not readily apparent, but I am on vacation. Not tomorrow, not next week, but right now, as I write this Editor’s Letter. Filing a column may not sound like a holiday to you, but the stark realities of the modern workday mean that vacations aren’t always completely blissful get-away-from-it-all retreats.

It’s not always our cruel workplaces insisting we stay on an electronic leash. As our world gets increasingly wired, many of us have come to insist on maintaining our connection to the electronic world, even in our leisure hours. And so InfoWorld introduces the geek vacation — a great escape that allows you to stay in touch.

Last month I asked you to recommend your favorite places to “get away without leaving it all behind” with the promise that InfoWorld would publish the most intriguing suggestions. You can find a representative sample of your comments in “Great Escapes for Geeks: InfoWorld readers weigh in” and a Top Ten list of favorite geek holidays from InfoWorld editors.

Sadly, vacations are temporary affairs. We spend most of our time toiling away in the workplace, which may be one reason InfoWorld’s Compensation Survey is always such a popular draw with readers. Everyone wants to know where IT jobs are heading and — more importantly — if we are being paid fairly. For the 10th installment of our annual investigation, we surveyed 1,886 IT professionals and uncovered many encouraging signs. Top line: People are making more money across the board, with an 8.8 percent increase to total compensation over last year (when the jump was a more modest 4.6 percent).

 All the news is not rosy, however. “Pocketbooks may be getting a little bigger these days, but payrolls don’t seem to be scaling alongside workloads,” says Associate Editor Jason Snyder, who spent weeks analyzing the numbers and writing up his findings. “Without adequate staffing, many organizations could be hurting in the year ahead.”

In other words, IT pros may be getting paid more, but they’re working harder to earn it. No wonder we need those vacations. If you don’t mind, I’ll get back to mine.