The Asian financial crisis is taking its toll on engineers there. This year, the EE Times Salary Survey was mailed, in abbreviated form, to 800 readers of Nikkei Electronics Asia in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. More than 200 replied, joining more than 500 readers from Nikkei Electronics in Japan, who have participated in EE Times surveys for nearly 10 years.

The weighted mean salary for the Japanese respondents was $59,645, while the 208 Asians who responded came in at $51,340 overall. By country, it was:

• Hong Kong: $61,150
• Taiwan: $50,797
• Singapore: $48,466
• Korea: $40,806

Bonuses and overtime do improve these numbers. Forty percent of the Asians say they received bonuses equal to 10 to 19 percent of their salaries in 1997. And another 20 percent say 20 to 50 percent of their income came from those sources.

In Japan, overtime and bonuses are crucial components of an engineer's take-home pay. Generally, EEs get two bonuses based on corporate performance per year. And 68 percent of the respondents there work scheduled overtime at premium pay.

For instance, whereas only six Asian engineers and managers belonged to the Six Figure Club when base salary was measured, the number tripled to 19 when bonuses and overtime were included.

Some 93.7 percent of the respondents to Nikkei Electronics Asia's survey reported receiving base salary raises in the past 12 months, but the economic problems plaguing South Korea have had a dramatic impact on engineers there.

Only 22 percent of the Koreans saw a wage hike. Of the 32 Korean respondents, seven saw an increase, 16 remained the same and nine had their paychecks cut in the past 12 months. By contrast, only a handful of engineers and managers from Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan experienced decreases in base salaries.

Korea, of course, has been undergoing a recession due to the Asian financial crisis. Several large corporations are up for sale. The data shows that not all of Asia is encountering the same degree of financial setbacks. Along with Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia are suffering the most, while the more developed Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore have withstood the worst of the blows.

(For an on-the-spot report on how engineers are faring, see our "View from Taiwan" report by EE Times correspondent By Mark Carroll)

Interestingly, design and development engineers and managers share common viewpoints about their wages. About 55 percent of the Americans, Asians and Japanese see their salaries as comparable to those of others in their field, while a third see themselves as underpaid. The remainder perceive themselves as paid more than most.

Return to 1998 Salary & Opinion Survey