This time, we will look at the data more comprehensively and cover the time period from 2020 to 2025, then focus on the year-on-year change of 2025 vs. 2024 and we also review median salary trends over time. The median is far more important for salary practice in Czechia than the average.

First, we will briefly look at the macroeconomic context of the Czech labor market according to the Czech Statistical Office (CZSO), and then we will examine the data from the Average Earnings Information System (ISPV), where we can track salary developments in information technology based on the CZ-ISCO, the national classification of jobs used in the Czech Republic to uniformly categorize job positions according to the type of work and skill level.

Salaries Are Growing in Real Terms

In its regular labor market summary for Q4 2025, the CZSO describes rather subdued trends: employment essentially stagnated, unemployment gradually increased, and demographic factors along with the aging workforce became more pronounced.

The most important point is that salaries have finally started to grow in real terms again after a long time. Statisticians report a year-on-year increase in average salaries in Q4 2025 of 7.4 % nominally and 5.1 % in real terms, with inflation at 2.2 % during the same period. This represents a very positive shift after the turbulent years of 2022 and 2023, when inflation reduced real salaries.

Another key insight tor the IT segment is, that this sector remains the highest-paying one across the entire Czech economy. The CZSO reports that in Q4 2025, the average monthly gross salary was CZK 90,694, which is traditionally the highest among all monitored sectors. Information technology thus continues to lead in compensation across industries.

Demographic Development

The CZSO also highlights the gradual aging of the workforce. Available data shows that the largest year-on-year increase occurred among workers aged 60+, followed by the 45–59 age group, while the number of workers aged 25–44 declined. This age group typically forms the core of mid-level and senior employees, which is one of the reasons why demand for qualified professionals will very likely continue.

For employers, this development primarily means fewer younger workers in the labor market and a growing share of older employees. Companies will therefore need to focus more on retaining experienced people, adapting working conditions to different age groups, and recruiting more actively beyond their traditional candidate pools.

At the same time, the importance of managing age-diverse teams (age management), preventing burnout, and supporting employee health will increase. Employers will also face greater pressure to ensure knowledge transfer, continuous education, and conditions that allow older employees to remain in the workforce longer. Aging is therefore not just a demographic trend but also a practical HR challenge for all organizations.

ISPV Data and Why to Interpret It Carefully

Now let’s take a closer look at the salary data from the Average Earnings Information System. According to available information, ISPV data for 2025 represents the last survey conducted in this format. From 2027 onwards, the data should be sourced exclusively from a unified monthly reporting system covering all employers. Based on current information, instead of surveying a selected sample of companies, the state (through the CZSO) will work with complete data from all employers, which could provide an even more accurate picture of salary development. The Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in cooperation with the CZSO, is currently preparing the methodology.

Despite these upcoming changes, ISPV remains one of the best available sources for understanding salaries according to CZ-ISCO, and it also provides a detailed view of salary distribution (median, quartiles, deciles). However, it is important to remember that the data is also linked to employer classification under CZ-NACE, a Czech coding system that classifies companies and entrepreneurs according to their field of business in accordance with the European NACE standard.

As a result, the survey may not capture all IT specializations across the labor market, especially where IT roles exist in other than the IT sector (e.g., manufacturing, automotive, R&D, etc.). ISPV is therefore an excellent benchmark for trends and structure, but it cannot be used as a universal price list for all specializations.

Comparison of Salary Data from 2020 to 2025

I wanted to understand what insights we could derive from ISPV data over time, so this time I looked at individual years retrospectively and created a long-term comparison for 2020–2025. The results confirm that average salaries in IT are gradually increasing across categories, but not at the same rate. Management roles consistently rank the highest, followed by expert technical professions (SW development, security, analytics, databases, networks), with support and operational roles lower.

A year-on-year comparison of 2025 vs. 2024 shows that average gross monthly salary growth continued in the most recent year and is visible across categories. The largest increases are typically concentrated in managerial roles, with steady growth also observed in expert positions. The slowest growth is usually seen in support and operational roles.

However, this section mainly works with average gross monthly salaries, and this is where it is useful to add a second perspective and look closer to the median value.

Average vs. Median value

In practice, people are usually more interested in the typical salary for a role rather than the average value. This is where the average value often fails, as it is sensitive to top earners, bonuses, and extraordinary rewards. The median value, on the other hand, represents the salary of the “middle” employee and therefore better reflects everyday reality. An overview of gross monthly salaries by category according to the ISPV in IT for 2025 can be seen below.

The table clearly shows the difference between the median salary value and the average salary value. The largest differences appear in managerial and expert job groups.

For managerial roles, the difference is significant and shows a wide upper range:

• ICT Managers (1330): median CZK 147,726, average CZK 172,856, top decile CZK 291,149
• Production and Technical Directors/Deputies in ICT (13301): median CZK 208,396, average CZK 240,849, top decile CZK 437,555

For expert roles, the difference is smaller but still noticeable:

• Software Developers (2512): median CZK 101,103, average CZK 113,300
• Data Security Specialists (2529): median CZK 90,974, average CZK 101,075
• Systems Analysts (2511): median CZK 91,532, average CZK 99,266

For support roles, the median confirms a different market segment:

• ICT Operations Technicians (3511): median CZK 55,524, average CZK 63,304
• ICT User Support Technicians (3512): median CZK 60,069, average CZK 69,247
• Web Administrators (3514): median CZK 42,641, average CZK 49,332

For a complete comparison, it also makes sense to include a chart of median salaries for 2020–2025. This better shows the development of typical salaries in role groups without distortion from extremes, as is the case with averages. The median trend also confirms structural differences between role groups: management at the top, expert roles in the middle, and support/operational roles lower, while showing growth across all categories.

The chart shows that median IT salaries increased between 2020 and 2025 in most professions. However, the growth is not uniform, some groups consistently maintain significantly higher salary levels, and some show stronger absolute growth.

At the top of the salary distribution are mainly managerial and executive positions. For example, Production and Technical Directors in ICT reach a median of about CZK 208,000 in 2025, while ICT Managers are around CZK 147,000.

Higher salary bands also include specialized expert roles such as Software Developers (~CZK 101,000 median), Systems Analysts (~CZK 92,000), and Data Security Specialists (~CZK 91,000). In contrast, lower salary levels are seen in operational and routine technical-administrative roles such as Data Entry Operators (~CZK 37,000) and Data Entry Clerks (~CZK 41,000).

The middle salary range includes roles with medians between CZK 60,000 and 80,000, such as Web Administrators (~CZK 76,000), Network Specialists (~CZK 75,000), Network Administrators (~CZK 68,000), Software Testers (~CZK 66,000), and ICT Operations Technicians/Programmer Technicians (~CZK 62,000).

At the lower end remain mainly operational and routine roles, which, although they also saw salary growth, remain significantly below expert categories.

Why Salaries Differ So Much Across IT Roles

Differences in IT salary ranges are not random, even if they may appear so at first glance. They most often reflect a combination of several reinforcing factors. These include the role’s impact on business, scarcity of talent, and the scope of responsibility. In simple terms: the harder a role is to replace and the more significant its business impact, the higher the market is willing to pay. This is evident in senior SW developers, architects, cybersecurity roles, and management. Other factors include employer type, industry, region, and compensation structure (e.g., bonuses), meaning the same role can have very different salary realities.

Another factor is talent scarcity. Roles with fewer experienced candidates and long training times (e.g., security specialists, senior developers, cloud experts) tend to see faster salary growth. Roles with lower entry barriers tend to experience less salary pressure.

Seniority and responsibility also matter. The same job title can represent very different levels of work. A SW developer may handle simple tasks, or design architecture, mentor others, and take responsibility for key systems. Economically, these are very different roles.

In management, the scope of responsibility is a key. Leading a small team is very different from managing large departments, budgets, and strategy. This explains the large gap between median and average in managerial roles.

Industry and employer type also matter. The same IT role is valued differently in manufacturing, banking, tech companies, or shared service centers. Factors include margins, budgets, business models, and the importance of IT to the company.

Region and competition also play a role. Prague, Brno, and Ostrava differ from smaller regions, although remote work is gradually reducing these differences.

Variable compensation is another factor. Bonuses and incentives significantly affect averages but less so medians, which is why averages often appear more optimistic.

Standardization of work also matters. More routine, replaceable roles tend to have narrower and lower salary ranges, while complex, high-impact roles have wider and higher ranges.

Finally, an often overlooked factor is the quality of internal compensation systems. Poorly defined roles, outdated salary bands, and lack of structure can create artificial inequalities within organizations.

Conclusion

Data from 2020–2025 confirms that IT salaries are growing across job categories, but not uniformly. IT remains one of the highest-paying sectors, creating continuous pressure for competitive compensation—even during cost-saving periods. In recent years, salaries have also grown in real terms, making stagnation more visible and less acceptable to employees.

It is crucial to emphasize that IT salaries are not a single number. The field covers a wide range of specializations, each with different salary levels and dynamics. Relying solely on averages can be misleading. The median provides a more realistic picture, while averages are influenced by top earners. The gap between the two is most significant in managerial and expert roles and it is important to keep this in mind when creating job offers and internal pay structures.

For organizations, simply understanding market trends is not enough today. The key is how they act on this information. The biggest opportunities for improvement are typically in:

• Moving away from a single aggregated number and segmenting roles meaningfully (e.g., support, ops/infrastructure, SW development, security, data, leadership)
• Basing salary bands on the median, using averages as a supplementary signal
• Implementing regular salary cycles and market checks
• Linking pay to real impact and responsibilities
• Maintaining internal fairness (pay compression and pay inversion).

If organizations manage these steps, they gain two advantages: better ability to compete in the market and stronger internal structure. This also prepares them for increasing requirements around the fair and transparent compensation introduced by EU Pay Transparency Directive (No. 2023/970). Compensation then becomes a managed, stable part of IT teams rather than a reactive crisis topic.