IT in Spain: six years of experience and €23,000 gross
An engineer with technical English and six years of experience earns €23,000 gross in Spain. The analysis that debunks the myth of elite tech salaries.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Six years of experience for a €5,000 raise: the math doesn't add up
In 2020, a software engineer with technical English, the ability to troubleshoot issues nobody could reproduce, and availability for international meetings earned €18,000 gross per year. Six years later, the sharpest person in his circle has reached €23,000. That's €1,500 net per month over twelve payments. The calculation comes from a direct manager of more than 200 professionals in the sector, who sums it up with a phrase that stings: "Quit IT, loser".
The figure is not an isolated exception. It sits at the heart of a malaise running through Spain's tech sector, and this analysis breaks it down: the gap between what the market demands — continuous training, languages, autonomy, dealing with foreign clients — and what it is willing to pay when payday comes.
From €18,000 to €23,000 in six years: the figure that debunks the narrative
A 20% increase over six years sounds like pogre until you factor in housing costs. The same professional who in 2020 considered buying a €45,000 flat in a mediocre area today cannot find anything affordable in the same neighborhood. The pay rise gets swallowed by property prices. And we're not talking about a junior: we're talking about people capable of holding a technical call with a foreign client for hours, reading incomplete documentation, and delivering poorly designed products.
The paradox is that this profile meets almost every requirement the market claims to want: technical training, real English — not the LinkedIn B2 — learning ability, autonomy, and communication skills. On paper, they should be at the top of the table. In practice, the average salary sits at the bottom.
The €80,000 mirage: who actually earns money in IT
There's always someone with a friend who earns €80,000 as a cloud architect or trendy consultant. The analysis dismantles this without sugarcoating: most of those stories are lies or hide a sales role dressed up as a technical one. In Spain, the source argues, nobody exceeds €30,000 without stepping into territory that has little to do with engineering. Six-figure salaries exist, but they are a minority and do not represent the bulk of the sector.
The tech sector is far broader than software development for a foreign multinational. There's technical support, product implementation, systems administration, consulting, operations, integration. Roles that demand real knowledge and yet move within contained salary bands. The reason is not a lack of talent: it's the weak bargaining power in a market where there is always someone willing to take the job out of necessity.
AI doesn't fix the salary problem: it makes it worse
The arrival of large language models has added a layer of uncertainty. One participant puts it bluntly: if a €200-a-month coding tool does the work of a junior, what's the point of paying a professional €23,000? The answer isn't simple. The same source denouncing low salaries admits that legacy systems are maintained or updated with a good prompt, and that new ones are implemented with the same tool. The circle closes: less need for hands, more downward pressure on salaries.
Against that, another camp argues that AI cannot replace the ability to solve what nobody else can reproduce, to deal with a clueless client, and to deliver a poorly designed product. That is the ground where the professional remains irreplaceable. The problem is that this value doesn't always translate into a paycheck.
The ERP consultant: the living death nobody wants to talk about
There's a corner of the sector where the malaise is concentrated: ERP consulting. The analysis describes it as a bottomless pit where salaries rarely exceed €30,000, even with experience and daily dealings with international clients. The comparison thrown out is devastating: 18-to-22-year-old kids doing door-to-door gas and electricity sales can triple the salary of a consultant with years of experience. The reason is not a lack of technical skill, but the structure of the business: tight margins, cascading subcontracting, and almost zero bargaining power.
The question hanging in the air is why anyone gets into this at all. The answer, once again, is necessity. And the promise of career growth that never quite arrives.
The effort narrative: a lifetime of studying to earn the same
IT carries a burden other engineering fields don't: mandatory continuous training. Every few years you have to learn new technologies, get certified, adapt to different products. All of that while working eight hours a day and solving the problems others can't. When it's time to pay, that effort apparently doesn't count.
The result is a contradiction the sector has yet to resolve: it demands an elite profile but pays a replacement-level salary. Meanwhile, housing keeps rising, inflation shows no mercy, and the feeling that effort doesn't pay off takes hold among a generation of professionals who, paradoxically, meet every requirement.
The conversation drifts toward the future: what happens when these professionals decide it's not worth it? The answer isn't in the data. It's in the next paycheck.
In 2020, a software engineer with technical English, the ability to troubleshoot issues nobody could reproduce, and availability for international meetings earned €18,000 gross per year. Six years later, the sharpest person in his circle has reached €23,000. That's €1,500 net per month over twelve payments. The calculation comes from a direct manager of more than 200 professionals in the sector, who sums it up with a phrase that stings: "Quit IT, loser".
The figure is not an isolated exception. It sits at the heart of a malaise running through Spain's tech sector, and this analysis breaks it down: the gap between what the market demands — continuous training, languages, autonomy, dealing with foreign clients — and what it is willing to pay when payday comes.
From €18,000 to €23,000 in six years: the figure that debunks the narrative
A 20% increase over six years sounds like pogre until you factor in housing costs. The same professional who in 2020 considered buying a €45,000 flat in a mediocre area today cannot find anything affordable in the same neighborhood. The pay rise gets swallowed by property prices. And we're not talking about a junior: we're talking about people capable of holding a technical call with a foreign client for hours, reading incomplete documentation, and delivering poorly designed products.
The paradox is that this profile meets almost every requirement the market claims to want: technical training, real English — not the LinkedIn B2 — learning ability, autonomy, and communication skills. On paper, they should be at the top of the table. In practice, the average salary sits at the bottom.
The €80,000 mirage: who actually earns money in IT
There's always someone with a friend who earns €80,000 as a cloud architect or trendy consultant. The analysis dismantles this without sugarcoating: most of those stories are lies or hide a sales role dressed up as a technical one. In Spain, the source argues, nobody exceeds €30,000 without stepping into territory that has little to do with engineering. Six-figure salaries exist, but they are a minority and do not represent the bulk of the sector.
The tech sector is far broader than software development for a foreign multinational. There's technical support, product implementation, systems administration, consulting, operations, integration. Roles that demand real knowledge and yet move within contained salary bands. The reason is not a lack of talent: it's the weak bargaining power in a market where there is always someone willing to take the job out of necessity.
AI doesn't fix the salary problem: it makes it worse
The arrival of large language models has added a layer of uncertainty. One participant puts it bluntly: if a €200-a-month coding tool does the work of a junior, what's the point of paying a professional €23,000? The answer isn't simple. The same source denouncing low salaries admits that legacy systems are maintained or updated with a good prompt, and that new ones are implemented with the same tool. The circle closes: less need for hands, more downward pressure on salaries.
Against that, another camp argues that AI cannot replace the ability to solve what nobody else can reproduce, to deal with a clueless client, and to deliver a poorly designed product. That is the ground where the professional remains irreplaceable. The problem is that this value doesn't always translate into a paycheck.
The ERP consultant: the living death nobody wants to talk about
There's a corner of the sector where the malaise is concentrated: ERP consulting. The analysis describes it as a bottomless pit where salaries rarely exceed €30,000, even with experience and daily dealings with international clients. The comparison thrown out is devastating: 18-to-22-year-old kids doing door-to-door gas and electricity sales can triple the salary of a consultant with years of experience. The reason is not a lack of technical skill, but the structure of the business: tight margins, cascading subcontracting, and almost zero bargaining power.
The question hanging in the air is why anyone gets into this at all. The answer, once again, is necessity. And the promise of career growth that never quite arrives.
The effort narrative: a lifetime of studying to earn the same
IT carries a burden other engineering fields don't: mandatory continuous training. Every few years you have to learn new technologies, get certified, adapt to different products. All of that while working eight hours a day and solving the problems others can't. When it's time to pay, that effort apparently doesn't count.
The result is a contradiction the sector has yet to resolve: it demands an elite profile but pays a replacement-level salary. Meanwhile, housing keeps rising, inflation shows no mercy, and the feeling that effort doesn't pay off takes hold among a generation of professionals who, paradoxically, meet every requirement.
The conversation drifts toward the future: what happens when these professionals decide it's not worth it? The answer isn't in the data. It's in the next paycheck.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (159 replies).
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