As the U.S. economy trudges through a recession and the electronics industry struggles through its worst downturn in memory, EE salaries actually increased 7.4 percent over 2001 levels, according to EE Times' 2002 Worldwide Salary & Opinion Survey. On the down side, layoffs and unemployment also increased over last year's levels.

• Introduction

• Wages defy gravity's pull - Salaries rise above economic clouds to $89.1k

• Engineers fret, is job safe? - Money is top concern, but career satisfaction remains high

• Product development stunted - Cancellations, cutbacks beset EE workplaces

• Borderless engineering - Time zones, cultural gaps challenge international teams

• The big chill strikes in U.K. - Engineers see salaries drop, freeze as development lags

• Salaries down, but optimism up - Asian EEs come up for air after massacre of 2001

• 9/11 shock still resonates - Readers feel uneasy about jobs, stocks, national security

• EE compensation, increases vary worldwide  . . . ONLINE EXCLUSIVE