The average U.S. engineer
now makes $102,748 in
salary and bonuses, marking
the first time EEs have
reached six figures in the
four years that we've done
our salary surveys. And
there's more good news,
as the engineering and tech services industry
added 66,300 jobs last year, putting that number
at an all-time high.
But there are troublesome signs behind this
rosy picture. While base salaries are up 7%,
bonuses are flat. Stock options and other perks,
which have historically been an important component
of an engineer's compensation, are down by
3%. What's more, the average pay for engineers
ages 24 and under - precisely the people the
industry needs to attract and keep - dipped 4%.
Job Growth Fuels Higher Incomes
According to a report released earlier this year
by the AeA (formerly the American Electronics
Association), based on U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) data, U.S. high-tech industries
saw significant job growth for the second year in
a row - and the unemployment rate for EEs is now
below 2%. The report shows that the high-tech
industry added nearly 150,000 net jobs for a
total of 5.8 million in the United States. This
growth is greater than the 87,400 jobs added the
prior year, and the two years of growth cumulatively
represent an increase of 4%.
"We are pleased to see the rebounding of the
tech industry," said William T. Archey, president
and CEO of AeA. "This is the second year in a row
that tech industry employment has added jobs.
Not only do these jobs make critical contributions
to the U.S. economy, but they also pay extremely
well. The average tech industry wage is 86% more
than the average U.S. private sector wage. In fact,
in 48 'cyberstates,' the average high-tech wage is
at least 50% more than the average private sector
wage, and in 10 of these states the differential
is over 90%."
Despite these increases, the AeA noted that
the industry still faces significant challenges.
"Companies of all sizes continue to have problems
recruiting highly qualified and educated individuals
to work for them, whether those individuals
are foreign or domestic," Archey said. "This
was reflected in the 2.5% unemployment rate for
computer scientists and the below 2% unemployment
rate for engineers in 2006."
As Archey sees it, the problem is twofold: first,
the lack of American students enrolling in and
graduating from math, science, and engineering
programs; and second, a broken U.S. visa system.
This April, within two days of the start of accepting
applications, the U.S. government received
133,000 applications for 65,000 H-1B visas - i.e.,
those reserved for highly skilled individuals. And
these applicants were looking for jobs that didn't
start until this month.
An examination of market sectors reveals that
the high-tech manufacturing industry added 5100
net jobs. The semiconductor industry also grew
significantly, gaining 10,900 jobs. Software services
and engineering and tech services employment
were up for the third year in a row, increasing by
88,500 jobs and 66,300 jobs, respectively. Only
the communications services industry continues
to struggle, losing 13,300 net jobs in 2006.
On a state-by-state basis, tech employment
gains occurred in 40 states. The last time so
many states saw this much tech job growth was
2000, the last year of the dotcom bubble. While
it's no surprise that California led the nation in
net job creation, it may be news to some that
Florida saw the second largest gain - adding
10,900 tech jobs.
This was the second year in a row that Florida
was among the top five states by tech employment
creation. Florida was also number one in
rate of growth (+4.1%), followed by Virginia
(+3.0%). Virginia had the added distinction of
leading the nation with the highest concentration
of tech industry workers as a percent of the private
sector workforce (8.9%). Previously, Colorado
had held that position.
The AeA report additionally
found that venture capital investment
in the technology industry
rose last year by $285 million to
$12.7 billion. In fact, high tech
now accounts for a full half of all
venture capital investments in
the nation.