Money is the No. 1 concern of U.S. engineers, and it's also right up there for their counterparts around the world. But Americans are so anxious about salary that it topped the list for a whopping 74.8 percent of the 5,900 respondents to the 2002 EE Times "Salary & Opinion Survey," up from 72 percent last year, when pay was in the second spot. This year, work/life balance was second and job security third, as most respondents said they were satisfied with their careers and employers.

With salaries up an average $6,200 this year, the largest hike in pay since the $7,300 recorded in 2000, the preoccupation with money could be a response to the prolonged economic downturn. In fact, it's no different from what most Americans feel and is a natural reaction to what is happening in the economy, said Scott B. MacDonald, economist at Aladdin Capital, a hedge fund management firm in Stamford, Conn.

Many have seen their wealth decrease this year as plummeting stock prices eroded mutual funds, 401(k) accounts and college funds. With the economy balanced on a precipice, people are more afraid than ever that if they lose their jobs, their personal finances will go over the edge.

"The U.S. is in the bust end of a boom-and-bust cycle that's likely to take 22 to 24 months-or well into 2003-to right itself," MacDonald said.

He and other economists compare it with the recession of 1989-1991. Statistically over in 1990, its effects extended out to 1993 because unemployment remained high.

"There's a huge amount of corporate as well as personal debt that's been built up and people are concerned about spending on big-ticket items this year," MacDonald said.

He estimated that growth will pick up in the fourth quarter, bringing the average growth for the year to 2 to 2.5 percent. However, that forecast could change because of a number of geopolitical factors such as whether the U.S. invades Iraq and what an invasion would do to oil prices, he said.

As one military-avionics engineer noted, terrorism in the United States and its ramifications result in "increased costs and reduced economic activity" for the nation.

For the average engineer, all the economic and political uncertainty translates into concern about keeping one's job and having an income. One reason is widespread industry cost cutting as engineering layoffs dominate headlines in 2002. Some of the biggest:

• IBM cut 15,600 workers in the second quarter.
• Agere Systems plans to eliminate 4,000 by 2003.
• Motorola trimmed 7,000 employees in June.
• Lucent Technologies plans to pare its staff to 45,000 from 77,000 by year's end.
• Hewlett-Packard cut 4,740 from the work force as a result of the merger with Compaq and a total of 10,000 by the end of fiscal 2002.

Electronics industry layoffs have resulted in one of the highest EE jobless rates in several years. The U.S. Labor Department reported that it shot up to 4.8 percent in the second quarter from 4.1 percent in the first quarter. That's lower than the nationwide unemployment rate of 5.9 percent, but high for engineers, who usually experience much lower jobless rates than the general work force. In pure numbers, 34,000 EEs were out of work in the second quarter of 2002, according to the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Said a Silicon Valley design engineer, "EEs are worried about salaries not primarily because they think they should be paid more, but because they are afraid of layoffs. If they get laid off, they know they will have a hard time finding a job that pays as well as their current one."

Some 58 percent of readers reported job cuts at their immediate workplace over the past 12 months, higher than the 40 percent who reported them last year. One result is an oversupply of engineers looking for work. In some regions hit hard by engineering job cuts, it can take EEs several months to land a new job.

The ongoing threat of layoffs led several respondents to write, "Extremely concerned," when asked to rate their level of worry. One said he "expects layoff or sale of division in the next six months"; another said he expected his company to "close within three months." One senior engineer who has not yet been affected by job cuts feels the ax hovering. He said, "Management has minimized layoffs to date, but if business doesn't start to pick up in the next three to four months, there could be more."

But not all was doom and gloom. Some engineers had positive views. One in the military-aerospace sector said, "As long as the military needs night vision for conflicts with other nations, I will have a job." Another fortunate respondent said, "My firm prides itself on maintaining its work force during tough economic times."

A 34-year-old who designs microprocessors in New England said he has been laid off twice in his 11-year career by two startups that went bust, but each time he "found a better job."

Others clearly were beyond the worry stage. Wrote one, "I'll be laid off in one week." Said another, "I am being laid off so there's no worry about the possibility." And one engineer who has clearly advanced to bigger things said, "Concerned about layoffs? Not anymore; now I worry the whole design center will close."

Whether engineers are working or looking for work, 73 percent of poll respondents have busy enough lives to rank balancing their work and the other parts of their lives as the second most important career concern in 2002. In the current economic environment, that juggling act has become more stressful. For example, survivors of mass layoffs may have to work more hours to make up for having fewer colleagues to help finish projects on time and on budget. As far as quality time with the family is concerned, American engineers took about the same vacation time as last year, an average of 2.4 weeks.

Some 45 percent of respondents described their job security as about "the same as last year," and an almost equal number, 44 percent, said it was "less secure." Only 12 percent said their jobs were "more secure" this year.

One reader was so despondent after being unemployed for 15 months that he is calling it quits in engineering. "I have lost everything-house, car and retirement plans," he wrote. "Nobody will even consider hiring an over-40 engineer anymore. I have spent over 30 years in engineering to be thrown out like a piece of garbage. I have to start an entirely new career now. Goodbye, engineering!"

Another predicted, "A lot of engineers will end up in different careers if things don't improve soon."

One EE said he is "looking for a full-time position but nothing is really happening. It doesn't look good so I'm considering going to another field just to make a living."

'Good place to work'
Despite those dark views of the profession, 82 percent of the engineers in the sample said they are satisfied with their careers and 80 percent find their companies a good place to work. Some 67 percent are happy with both career and employer, down from last year's 73 percent. This result is consistent with those of past surveys where respondents' satisfaction with both career and employer dips during a downturn. It levels out to about half of readers even during the worst of times. This year we found that U.S. readers have worked for their present employer an average of 7.6 years and have changed employers 2.6 times on average during their career, a set of statistics that supports the finding that EEs are generally happy with their employers and their jobs. Knowing that the job market is tough and that other EEs may be without work may also be influencing decisions not to move.

In fact, the industry downturn has led 89 percent of engineers in the sample to stay put for the last year; only 11 percent took new jobs.

All in all, 78 percent of U.S. respondents said they would still overwhelmingly recommend engineering as a career to their children.

In Japan, engineers' career priorities are slightly different from those of their Western counterparts. Technical obsolescence ranked as the No. 1 concern for 94 percent; salaries, 92 percent, was No. 2. Work/life balance was the third most important concern at 83 percent, and education/retraining and updating was No. 4 with 77 percent.

Some 53 percent of Japanese EEs said they were satisfied with their careers and 59 percent said they thought their company a good place to work. Japanese engineers change jobs less frequently than their Western counterparts-an average of 0.5 times per career. And despite good feelings about their own careers only 43.9 percent would recommend engineering to their children.

Only 3 percent of Japanese respondents said they were out of work during the last 12 months and for 39 percent, the joblessness lasted less than a month. As in the United States, just under a quarter were out of work more than six months.

It is difficult to gauge engineers' satisfaction with their employers and careers in Asia outside of Japan, because the question on the survey conducted by EE Times Asia gave respondents just three options, "satisfied," "dissatisfied" and "no strong opinion." In China, South Korea, South Asia and Taiwan, 70 percent or more of respondents checked off the last one. Korean engineers, who recorded a salary increase this year, were the happiest in the Asian sample, with 91 percent saying their company is a good place to work; in Taiwan 83 percent of engineers also liked their employers. Engineers in China were the least happy, with just 60 percent giving their company a good rating.

Engineers in Asia job-hop slightly less frequently than their Western counterparts. In China, Taiwan and South Asia, engineers with six to nine years' experience have moved 2.3 times; in Korea the figure is two times on average. Fully 70 percent of respondents to the EE Times Asia poll said they are interested in working overseas, with 51 percent of those engineers picking the United States as their preferred destination.