counting.py

from itertools import groupby
from operator import itemgetter

data = [dict(name="Tyler Bennett", id="E10297", salary=32000, department="D101"), ...]

department = itemgetter('department')
for dep, persons in groupby(sorted(data, key=department), department):
    print "\nDepartment", dep
    print " Employee Name   Employee ID     Salary          Department"       
    for person in sorted(persons, key=itemgetter('salary'):
        print "%(name)-15s %(id)-15s %(salary)-15s %(department)-15s"