First line support staff earned £19,523 and desktop support staff had an average pay of £26,554.

Matthew Iveson, one of the authors of the report, said: "It is clear that demand for IT professionals has fallen dramatically, and with unemployment rising we have found that candidates are now being more realistic with their salary expectations."

"There are some bright spots where demand remains strong especially for candidates with strong .Net, SharePoint, Java or PHP skills."

He expected salaries to stay low for the next 12 to 18 months, until "confidence returns to the industry".

IT jobs were again in the firing line today, as for this year, and insurer Legal & General said it was cutting 560 processing staff.