The results of the 1998 salary survey are in and reflect a general mood that the economy is good and engineering skills still are in demand. With very few exceptions, salaries generally are higher than we found in last year’s survey.*
For those of us who are still wondering how to achieve the statistical norm of 2.3 children, the immediate conclusion from our survey is that you need to be a Ph.D. corporate manager in California with 17 years experience to be at the top of the heap. The fallacy in both these situations is that, while the trends are valid, they are not necessarily applicable to an individual’s situation.
At any rate, it is human nature to see how we stack up against any measure of performance. Salary is particularly seductive in this regard, because it is an absolute numerical value we can easily compare to another number. The factors that affect salary are geography, experience, education, and job function.
Geographic Comparison
The geographic areas in our survey are intentionally broad, since any subdivision could result in statistically inadequate samples. Figure 1 shows that salaries are up in all regions as compared to last year. Remember that the geographic data is not necessarily indicative of the average pay increase received in these areas. The respondents this year are not the same people who made up last year’s data base.
Just more than one-third of the respondents expect a 5% or more raise this year, with just about half anticipating a 2% to 4% increase. However, the lowest regional increase in reported average salaries is 4%, indicating the need for further investigation.
Salary vs Years in the Industry
Figure 2 shows the comparison of salary vs years in the industry. If your work experience in the industry is less than three years, your median salary is $39,000. For three to five years, it is $52,000, up $2,350 from last year. Last year’s data indicated a much wider range and a lower median salary for the respondents in the three- to five-year category. The 10th percentile salary level increased nearly 25% to $42,800 in 1998, but the 50th percentile salary level increased only about 5%. This would indicate that we are seeing the result of higher starting salaries for recent graduates rather than yearly raises driving the increase in median salary.
The median pay remained the same at $50,000 for six to nine years experience, but jumped $13,800 to $64,000 for the 10- to 14-year group. Members of the 15- to 19-year set have a $70,000 median salary, up $10,000 over the last 12 months. But for you with 20 to 24 years experience, the median drops to $62,000, which is up $7,000 from a year ago.
For 25 to 29 years, the median salary is $68,000, down about 4% from 1997. Finally, those with 30 or more years in the industry have a median salary of $71,250, up $2,250 from last year.
Another factor to consider when reviewing salaries is the selection process that occurs in any analysis involving levels of experience. It is not necessarily correct to assume that the increase in salary with years of experience is due to individual salaries increasing. Quite possibly, the lower salary percentile folks are more likely to leave the profession than those in the 90th percentile. The remaining experienced people are those with higher salaries, again increasing the median without increasing the individual incomes.
Looking at this another way, in areas of stable employment where the new-hire rate and the attrition rate of experienced people are low, the change from last year is less. Where the influx of new engineers is highest relative to the existing base of engineers, the percentage increase in salary is greatest.
Salary Varies With Job Function
In an attempt to quantify how salary is affected by responsibilities, the questionnaire also asked for the primary job function of the respondents. The results are shown in Figure 3. It compares the median salary of 1997 and 1998 for 11 job functions. In eight of these categories, the median salary increased from 1997. For example, if you are in calibration, you saw a rise in the median salary of nearly 15% over the last 12 months. But engineering/lab support personnel had a median salary shortfall of $2,500 compared to 1997.
Educational Comparison
And it pays to stay in school. Education is one of the most important criteria in salary determination. And, of course, the right education for the job is more rewarding as evidenced by slightly lower statistics for other B.S. degrees and B.A. degrees compared to B.S.E.E. degrees summarized in Figure 4 and Figure 5. In all fairness, it should be pointed out that the earning time lost by those who delay their entry into the workforce to further their education is a trade-off against the higher salary commanded with the additional education.
Other Results of Interest
For the moment, put aside the understandable and worthwhile quest to locate some nugget of information to aid in increasing your compensation, and let’s examine other results of the survey that are worth mentioning.
Over half the respondents have internet access at both home and on the job. Less than 10% are not on the internet at all.
In a surprisingly positive discussion of downsizing, one respondent looked forward to becoming a contract employee with the opportunity for greater earnings. At the same time, he downplayed the resulting loss of job security. “There is no longer any such thing as a 40-year engineering career with a single company,” he said.
This reader also pointed out that the most pressing need for both downsizing/outsourcing companies and contracting employees is to have the means to find each other. He predicted a big opportunity for an internet-based clearing house for this information.
The most upbeat news is in the area of job/career satisfaction. Ninety-four percent of the respondents indicated they were satisfied with their job and 96% were satisfied with their career. A 96% approval rating is really something.
* Questionnaires requesting salary and other related information were sent to a portion of the EE-Evaluation Engineering subscriber base. Altogether, 2,000 questionnaires were mailed, and we received 324 usable responses.
A significant effort was made to keep the survey anonymous. Neither the questionnaires nor the envelopes were identifiable unless the respondents opted to identify themselves. The return rate of 16.2% is consistent with our 1997 responses as well as other industry surveys.
All contents © 2004 Nelson Publishing
April 1998