This survey by IT JobsWatch shows that things are looking up for Javascript programmers. Over the last year, the average salary for Brit Ajax slingers has gone up 33% from £29,375 ($55,853) to £39,228 ($74,588). I’m sure these numbers are representative of trends in many other countries. Based on my own project experience over the last few years, the lowly Javascript programmer has gone from being a servant of the “design team” to a star, whose time is often more valuable than that of the programmers that make up the traditional “application team.”
What’s ahead for companies that are developing Ajax applications (and at this stage, that seem to be just about everyone)? There are those that will double down on traditional languages and skillsets via Javascript code generators such as GWT. But there will be enough companies going the pure Javascript route to drive up salaries even further. And behind the demand will come the training and certifications, the standards, tools and blessed frameworks, and the army of freshly minted Ajax programmers to fill all of those well compensated jobs. If you’re considering selling all of your Java books and moving to a Javascript commune, do it quickly.
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…I’m sure these numbers are representative of trends in many other countries…
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If I’d be in you I’d not be so sure of this: here in Italy web agencies are interested in complete programmers and not only in javascript coders.
My skills are javascript (OOP, Ajax), php, python, mysql, xhtml, xsl and css and my salary is less than 1k Euros per month and the cost of life is quite expensive, so a salary like yours is a dream for many italian (and not only) coders.
P.s. : in http://blog.html.it/archivi/2006/09/26/i-salari-del-programmatore-javascript.php
they are talking about your post. (use some page translator)