The growth of popularity of social networking websites such as MySpace and Facebook has led to a significant rise in the earning power of web developers, as demand for their services rises in line with internet trends.
Online social networking, part of the so-called 'web 2.0' phenomenon has created a surge in demand for skilled web developers.
According to new reports from the Association of Technology Staffing Companies (ATSCo), developers have seen a 26 per cent increase in pay over the past 12 months alone which could set to rise further if trends continue apace.
The past year has seen a number of high-profile Web 2.0 acquisitions, including the sale of YouTube to Google for £883 million, proving that there is money to be made in online social networking. Ann Swain, ATSCo chief executive, explained how increased sophistication is putting developers in demand.
"Websites now offer a potentially much more sophisticated user experience than the plain text sites around in the 90s," she said.
"It was relatively easy to publish a decent website back then, but now it's difficult without expert programming skills."
Recent reports from Hitwise show that web 2.0 sites now account for near 12 per cent of all US web activity, according to the Herald Sun.
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