Non-certified skills that have been losing their value in the last year include Baan, Lawson, Lotus Notes/Domino, Siebel and voice over Internet Protocol, according to the study.

For certified technical skills, overall average pay for 109 IT certifications surveyed grew 2.6 percent for the year ending April 1. That means that while pay has grown faster in recent months for non-certified skills, workers with certified skills still earn more than uncertified workers, according to the study. The data shows a 4 percent growth overall in certified skills values between 2000 and 2006, compared to a 30 percent decline for non-certified technical skills pay. But if the current trend continues for the next few years, the gap between what an employer will pay for workers with certified skills versus those without certification will narrow considerably, according to the study.

The tech skills certifications that have been growing in value in the last year include applications development/programming languages; project management; training/general; Webmaster/Internet; and security.

Other hot skills certifications include Security Certified Network Professional, Certified Information Security Manager, Cisco Certified Security Professional, IBM Certified Solutions Developer: WebSphere, HP/Compaq Master Accredited Systems Engineer, Sun Certified Programmer for Java 2 Platform, Check Point Certified Security Administrator, Microsoft Certified Applications Developer and Cisco Wireless LAN Support Specialist.

The following certifications have been losing value in the last 12 months: Citrix Certified Administrator, Cisco Certified Network Professional, Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician, Novell Certified Directory Engineer, Novell Master Certified Network Engineer, Novell Certified Network Administrator, SANS/GIAC Firewall Analyst, Certified Information Systems Auditor and IBM DB2 Universal Database Certified Solutions Expert.