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Engineers Optimistic About
Industry Comeback
by Judy Bokorney, Contributing Editor
Is the electronics industry on the road to an economic recovery? Our annual
salary survey seems to indicate it’s true.
There was a time when a 5% salary increase was considered standard, even
ordinary. With the advent of the 21st century, everything changed. For the last
several years, the electronics industry has seen little or no salary increases.
But what a difference a year makes.
Last year’s EE-Evaluation Engineering salary survey showed an encouraging but
modest rise in salary with a 2.7% increase. However, this year’s results can be
called remarkable in today’s working environment. After years of median salaries
hovering in the $70,000 range, this year’s survey takers reported a $5,000
increase from last year’s $75,000 to a median salary of $80,000, a 6.6%
increase.
Almost 650 EE readers participated in this year’s salary survey and not only
reported optimistic results in salary increases but also insight on job security
and satisfaction, career issues, web seminars, and median pay compared with job
function, education, years in industry, and geographical region.
“The electronics industry is making a comeback,” said Dat Nguyen of Texas
Instruments. “In my workplace, business and salaries have picked up. We are
hiring a lot, and this has pushed salaries up,” he said.
Mr. Nguyen, a failure analysis engineer located in Dallas, is glad to see
salaries on the rise because, for him, good pay relates to happiness in the
workplace. “Salary is one of the most important factors in job satisfaction,” he
said. “I need to be perceived as well paid or adequately compensated compared to
my peers in the same profession.”
Money Isn’t Everything
The 2006 salary survey showed that 85% of the respondents were either satisfied
or very satisfied with their current job and 76% with their overall career. Most
participants have been at their existing job for six to 14 years. This year, 19%
of those who took the survey said they were more satisfied, and most felt the
same level of satisfaction (57%). A percentage (24%) was less satisfied.
Jay Gamerman of Acrodyne Industries in Maryland agreed salary is an important
component to overall job satisfaction but not the only thing. “Having a good
salary and benefits makes the financial part of the equation lighter,” he said.
“But what is significant is working for someone who trusts your judgment to get
the job done and gives you the freedom to do your job without micromanaging.”
Less stress and more time off are on the wish list for Jim Hull of Micron
Technology located in Boise, ID. “Sure, if I were making less, I would not be as
satisfied with my job, but that is only part of it,” he said. “Even more, I
value my time off and having fun and challenging projects to work on.”
This year’s survey asked respondents to rank the following eight career issues
in order of importance: education, job market/security, outsourcing, pension,
professional ethics, salary, technical obsolescence, and work/life balance.
Salary and work/life balance tied for first place with 65% of the vote, and job
market/security came in second place with 50%.
“I value my time off work very much,” said Mr. Hull, a product engineer who
creates test software for verifying component specs and debugging new chip
designs. “It gives me time to relax and take my mind off the office. Engineering
is my profession but not my life. I have varied interests and hobbies. I need
the time to do those to keep my mind clear and focused when I go to work.”
Mr. Gamerman, a principal engineer for a medium size company that designs and
builds high-power television transmitters, holds the same sentiment about
work/life balance. “I work to live not live to work,” he said. “I quit a
previous employer that took the attitude that engineers are a resource to be
used as needed and laid off when not needed or burned out.”
Web Seminars Offer Better Work/Life Balance
The need for quality time may directly correlate with the popularity of web
seminars. A total of 52% of the respondents said they attended one last year,
and 43% noted their level of participation in web seminars would increase in
2006.
“I believe education is very important in developing a career,” said Kurt
Veggeberg of National Instruments in Austin, TX. “Web-based training programs
open the possibility of doing more training in a cost-effective manner. More
training and less travel and nonproductive time make for a better work/life
balance.”
Mr. Nguyen of Texas Instruments concurred. “Web seminars are an excellent tool
because of flexibility,” he said. “The amount of knowledge and issues we have to
deal with has been mounting along with job responsibilities. The only way to
meet this challenge is to have more web-based interaction.”
Web seminars are important to keep up with the latest information in the market
place, said an applications manager from California who preferred to remain
anonymous. “Seminars allow people to see what is happening on their own time, to
give a good day’s work, and then review the web seminar at their convenience.”
The level of education always plays a part in salary figures (Figure 1). Survey
respondents who earned a Ph.D. had the highest median salary of $107,000 with
those who obtained an M.B.A. or M.S.E.E. coming in second and third with
$100,000 and $94,700, respectively.
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Figure 1. Median Salary by Education |
Participants who have other master’s degrees saw a median salary of $87,000, and
the majority of respondents, who held a B.S.E.E., earned a median salary of
$85,000. Those with a B.A. degree took home a median salary of $77,000, and
readers who obtained a B.S. degree in something other than electrical
engineering had a median salary of $74,000.
Corporate management took home the most pay last year with a median salary of
$91,750, and design development engineers were right behind with $86,500 (Figure
2). Workers in the field of standards had a median salary of $86,000 last year,
and component/evaluation engineers received $84,500. Those in research and
design and incoming inspection test ranked fifth and sixth place for median
salaries with $84,000 and $82,000, respectively.
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Figure 2. Median Salary by Job Function |
According to the survey, men made more money than women in the electronics
industry. Overall, the median salary for men was $80,000 and $70,000 for women.
Survey participants living in the Pacific region of the United States had the
highest median salary at $95,000 compared to last year’s survey with $87,000
(Figure 3). Median salary then drops by $10,000 to $85,000 for workers residing
in the mountain states. This year’s third-place region represented the
northeastern states with a median pay of $80,000 compared to $76,000 in the
previous survey. Coming in fourth and fifth for median salary were the central
region at $73,000 and southeastern states at $72,000.
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Figure 3. Median Salary by Geographic Region |
Seniority has its advantages (Figure 4). Survey respondents who invested 30 or
more years in the electronics industry received a median salary of $85,000, and
those who have spent 25 to 29 years in the field brought home $83,500. A median
pay of $82,000 and $80,000 was earned by survey takers who worked in the
electronics industry between 15 to 19 years and 20 to 24 years, respectively.
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Figure 4. Median Salary by Years in Industry |
Engineers of the Future
A total of 78% of those who took the survey have worked 15 years or more in the
electronics industry. In fact, most participants or 73% said they would
recommend a career in the field of engineering to their children.
Mr. Gamerman’s son currently is studying mechanical engineering. “I do recommend
it as a career if you have the need for the creative outlet it provides,” he
said. “But be aware that part of the job is paperwork and other
nonengineering-related tasks, especially if you work for a smaller company. If
you get with the right company, you can do a lot of interesting things.”
“This is a question I am torn over,” said Mr. Hull of Micron Technology. “I
really like what I do, but the stress of always worrying about having your job
outsourced is very draining. But if a child has an interest in engineering, then
he or she should be encouraged.”
A total of 85% of respondents said they felt secure or very secure in their
current job. But on the contrary, 65% said they feel less secure than last year.
“I believe a company has to offer career growth opportunities for employees so
they can have job security,” said Mr. Veggeberg of National Instruments. “The
easiest way to do this is to continue to make every effort to grow and provide
the plans to do this. Our company has consistently done this over the years.”
Mr. Hull lamented, “It would be nice to know that if you worked hard you would
always have a job. I think it is very shortsighted of the U.S. government and
industry to allow and encourage outsourcing and cutting back on domestic
training. Sure, in the short run we see great savings. But in the long run, it
will just put our way of life and our country in a downward spiral.”
The California applications manager said he does not feel secure in his job but
is creating avenues to make his job more secure. He builds stability in his job
by finding a niche that makes him hard to replace.
Most survey participants (78%) did not accept or actively look for a new job in
2005, and in 2006, only 30% said they plan to search for other employment.
However, 85% of respondents said they do not expect a promotion this year.
An indication of growth in the electronics industry was shown when 42% of the
survey takers said they anticipated the number of engineers to increase in 2006
at their workplace. Only 16% predicted a decrease, and 42% felt there would be
no change in numbers.
With 75% of the participants indicating they received a raise in the last year
and a marked jump in median salary, it does appear that the electronics industry
is experiencing positive growth. Mr. Veggeberg of National Instruments, a
business development manager for sound and vibration technologies, agreed. “I
believe the industry is making a comeback, and this is indicated in the survey
figures,” he said. “Salary increases and business look promising.”
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