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Tragedy or comedy?
The results of the latest Design News salary survey are decidely mixed
By Bruce Wiebusch, Regional Editor -- Design News, July 8, 2002
A quick look at the results of this year's Design News salary survey suggests that design engineers have plenty of reasons to be unhappy, including small-to-nonexistent raises, layoffs, and staggering workloads. But that's only part of the story. The good news is that plenty of engineers love their work and derive job satisfaction from more than just a paycheck.
The bad news. Nearly one third—31%—of all respondents are unsatisfied with their career choice. That's up from 9% last year. Some of the dissatisfaction likely stems from the relatively small pay raises handed out last year. Close to half (43%) received a pay raise less than 5%. Another 16% received no pay raise at all. And an unlucky 4% had their pay cut.
So it's not surprising that salaries have edged up just slightly over last year. Of course, where one works has a lot to do with one's salary. Engineers working in the mountain and pacific regions of the country earn the highest base salaries. Their mean annual salary is more than $70,000. Engineers working in the telecommunications, defense systems, aerospace, and computer manufacturing industries are also better paid than their counterparts in the appliance, automotive, construction equipment, and consumer products industries. The telecommunications industry ranked highest, with an annual mean salary of $78,200.
Most engineers make between $50,000 and $80,000 per year. Less than 10% make six figures. Generally speaking, the higher the salary, the more satisfied engineers are. Some 79% of engineers making more than $100,000 annually reported being satisfied or very satisfied with their jobs. But an almost equal percentage making less than $40,000 per year are also satisfied with their career choice.
The good news. In fact, our discussions with many engineers revealed a sense of professional satisfaction and accomplishment that had nothing to do with the amount of money they make.
For example, Ed Proffitt, an engineering manager at Sony's digital audio disc plant (San Antonio, TX) simply enjoys working with new technology. Proffitt has worked at the plant since 1983, designing production machinery and automation equipment. "We were the first Sony plant to start production in the U.S.," he recalls. "Being involved with the introduction of new products is satisfying to me. These days we are seeing DVD explode more than CD ROM ever did."
Gerson Rosenberg, a Ph.D. mechanical engineer at the Division of Artificial Organs at Penn State's College of Medicine (Hershey, PA), also enjoys working with new technology. "I think the fact that what we've done has resulted in devices that have saved patient's lives adds to the job satisfaction," he says. He and his team at Penn State designed the world's first fully implantable artificial heart, an accomplishment that earned him the 15th annual Design News Engineer of the Year award.
"When a device finally reaches clinical trials and it extends and improves the quality of life for these patients, that is very satisfying," says Rosenberg. He adds that it's difficult to describe the feeling he has when meeting one of his patients. "I always tell them that I feel like I should be thanking them for making me feel so good about the work we do."
Rosenberg says that there are many reasons why he finds his work satisfying, not the least of which is being able to solve a specific problem through the application of engineering principles.
Dean Petersen, the vice president of engineering at HPS Medical (Escondido, CA) derives satisfaction from helping people. "When you get to be my age, you get to be more altruistic," the 70-year-old quips. Joking or not, one reason Petersen chose a job in the medical industry designing infusion pumps was because he wanted to make a difference.
Petersen has earned more than 100 patents during his career, and despite undergoing chemotherapy is showing no signs of slowing down. Currently, he is in the process of launching two companies. His secret for longstanding career satisfaction? Work for a good manager. "If you don't have a good boss, don't be afraid to try something new," he says.
| Experience = $$ | |
|---|---|
| Annual mean salary in thousands | |
| Over 20 years | $75.7 |
| 16-20 years | 70.8 |
| 11-15 years | 65.7 |
| 6-10 years | 57.8 |
| 2-5 years | 51.5 |
| Under 2 years | 44.2 |
| Change is good | |
|---|---|
| Changed jobs | Mean % raise |
| Yes | 6.6% |
| No | 3.3% |
| Career satisfaction's big slide | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| This year, nearly a third of survey respondents report being unsatisfied with their careers. Last year, less than ten percent were dissatisfied. The number of "satisfied" engineers also fell sharply from 61% last year to 40% this year. | |||
| This year's survey | Unsatisfied: 31% | Satisfied: 40% | Very satisfied: 29% |
| Last year's survey results: | Unsatisfied: 9% | Satisfied: 61% | Very satisfied: 30% |
| Higher the ladder, higher the salary | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean annual base salary | |||||
| 2-5 years | 6-10 years | 11-15 years | 16-20 years | 20+ years | |
| Supervisor | $54,800 | 64,400 | 68,500 | 74,800 | 81,600 |
| Budget control | 53,000 | 64,200 | 70,300 | 73,900 | 83,900 |
| Neither | 51,100 | 54,400 | 63,900 | 67,700 | 70,700 |
