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As the number of sites on the World Wide Web has tripled, to 300,000, since
last year, the demand for people to manage corporate sites has far outstripped
the supply. Companies have been recruiting computer-savvy workers right out of
college and, in some cases, high school. Some positions come with salaries
higher than those of comparable positions in other computer fields.
Brian Paris was a graphics designer at an insurance brokerage firm when the
Web came knocking. He now manages the Web site at Maxwell Architects in
Nashville; the new job has increased his salary 20 percent, to more than
$40,000.
Graphical Business Systems, an Elmhurst, Ill., company that develops Web
sites, lost two of its eight programmers in December. One began his own Internet
company; the other moved to an executive recruiting firm to manage its site for
more than $60,000 a year, a 30 percent increase from his previous salary.
Recently, another programmer, Craig Huber, changed his mind about leaving after
the company said it would give him a percentage of his billings. That could
raise his salary 40 percent, to more than $60,000.
''You're constantly recruiting,'' said John Kilcullen, business development
manager at Graphical Business Systems. ''You find people with the right skills,
call them back and they're gone.''
Fruit of the Loom, the clothing company, hired 15 people for its Web site in
1995 and lost two of them to other companies within two months. ''Retaining them
has been difficult,'' said Glenn Banfield, director of electronic commerce at
the company.
The Weather Channel in Atlanta had trouble finding more Web workers last year
when it expanded its site. After unsuccessfully looking for 30 people with the
right skills, it hired people with various backgrounds and then trained them.
The jobs have salaries from $25,000 for Web customer service representatives to
$100,000 for the new manager of Web operations.
A director of on-line business typically has 10 to 15 years of corporate
experience and has come up through a company's marketing or information services
department, while a Web programmer may have no corporate experience, but will be
fluent in several programming languages, said Paul Gavejian, a principal at Buck
Consultants.
Most in demand are workers with extensive advertising or direct-mail
experience, said Bob Chatham, senior analyst at Forrester Research, a computer
industry consulting firm in Cambridge, Mass. ''What you need to make a Web site
successful is to get customers there and keep them there,'' Mr. Chatham said.
''That requires workers with hybrid skills.''
When Greg Siskind, the author of ''The Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the
Internet'' (American Bar Association, 1996, $64.95), founded an immigration law
firm in Nashville two years ago, he wanted to set up a one-page Web site. But he
did the work himself. ''There was no consulting industry to tap,'' he said. As
the site grew, he hired two lawyers who also had Web skills to design and manage
the site.
''We were seeking two things: lawyers knowledgeable about immigration law and
attorneys who were Internet-savvy and could help with all the traffic on our Web
site,'' he said. ''We were willing to make them partners right away to reward
and keep them.''
Freelancers can profit, too. Brent Brotine, 47, left a Chicago advertising
agency three years ago to start his own communications firm. He writes the
content for the Web sites of several banks, insurance companies and mutual
funds. Although he would not disclose his income, he said it had increased about
50 percent since he left the ad agency.
HOW long can the boom last? At least five years, said Josh Bernoff, a senior
analyst at Forrester Research. ''The industry is where television was in 1952:
in its infancy,'' he said.
Others are more skeptical, saying companies may begin to abandon Web sites if
they don't lead to an increase in revenue. ''It's the Gold Rush of the 90's,''
said Alan Johnson, a compensation consultant in New York, ''but don't be shocked
if it doesn't work out.''
The Software Publishers Association says a computer graphics artist makes
an average salary of $36,400 and a programmer $42,600, but a recent survey by
Buck Consultants, an employee benefits and compensation consulting firm in New
York, found that the same Web-related positions were paying $46,600 and $46,200,
respectively.
Salaries are continuing to rise as more companies scramble to
open Web sites. And what better place to find qualified workers than at the Web
sites and graphics departments of other companies?
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