In recent months, talk of the IT job market has tended to focus on highly-skilled workers and the equally high salaries that they're going to command in 2007 [1]. What we haven't heard much of is how that's going to effect the IT budget and, by proxy, the rest of us. It seems that CIOs are going to be in a tough spot this year: they'll be forced to pay up in order to hire on star talent while facing pressure to keep the IT budget in check. What that could mean is stagnant wages for everyone else. There's some silver lining, however: IT management will be more than familiar with the trend and will fight to keep talent from jumping ship. Use the competitive job market to your advantage whether you're looking for a new job, asking for a raise or just trying to squeeze a few more days of paid vacation time out of your boss.

For more on the IT job market:
- see this ComputerWorld article [2]