The pressure electronics companies are under to lower costs is being passed on to workers, who this year have experienced layoffs, pay cuts and freezes, and delays in product development programs. In the U.K., the average base salary across the industry was $57,815, a very slight decrease from last year's $57,970. But those working in general or corporate management have seen substantial pay drops this year, with average salaries of $71,443, against $78,749 in 2001.
Of the 1,218 U.K. respondents to this year's survey, 61.1 percent got raises, and just 4.8 percent experienced pay cuts. But 34.1 percent said they had experienced pay freezes in 2002.
Respondents in component and chip design continue to be the highest paid after management; they saw an 11.4 percent rise over last year, to an average of $66,969 from $60,104 in 2001. Design and development engineers saw a lesser increase, rising to $52,010 from the 2001 average of $51,102. Salaries in board-level design rose slightly to $45,861 from $45,703, as did test and measurement, from $43,775 to $44,697.
Others within the high-tech sector were not so lucky. Respondents working in R&D saw a substantial drop in salary of more than 8 percent to $51,390, from $56,208 in 2001. This may reflect a halting or slowdown in the number of research projects as companies reduce head counts and institute cost-saving measures. Those working in software design also saw their average base salary dip slightly, from $55,723 in 2001 to $55,526.
Across industry sectors in the United Kingdom, there were more losers than winners, with many pay freezes and some salary cuts. The highest-paid sector of 2001, computers and computer peripherals, was knocked down to fourth place this year as employees reported more than a 13 percent decrease in average salaries, from $68,646 to $60,227 this year. Independent research and testing labs also took a hit, with an average base salary of $55,882 compared with $64,713 last year.
Besides components and subassemblies, other sectors that have seen pay increases this year include communications equipment ($64,919, up from $61,989), test, measurement and instrumentation ($56,894, up from $56,176), industrial controls and equipment ($55,842, up from $54,576) and military/aerospace ($51,417, up from $50,257).
Younger engineers, especially, are feeling the pinch. The average base pay for 20- to 25-year-olds plummeted 21 percent this year to $32,463, from $39,286 in 2001. Other average salaries by age group have either decreased or increased only slightly, reflecting across-the-board pay freezes for most age groups. The 50-to-54 age group suffered a 2.5 percent decrease, with average salaries this year amounting to $57,203.
A principal engineer involved in design and development maintained that low salaries were a major issue facing the U.K. industry and said that the country's skills crisis had more to do with U.K. immigration policy than a lack of engineers. "The poor utilization of engineers along with employers demanding access to overseas engineers to fill this mythical skills shortage is a major issue," this EE wrote. "Employers should offer better salary rates to retain their British engineers."
The handful of women respondents (27 from a base of 1,218) had an average basic salary of $42,109, far lower than the men's average of $57,939. A number of readers spoke of the negative impact of the lack of females entering the industry, and many believe that the education system is failing to interest potential EEs of either gender at an early enough age.
Companies' efforts to curb expenses in light of the downturn have had a direct impact on training and development. The average number of days of training is 4.71, with 92.9 percent of respondents having received between 0 and 10 days' training. Nevertheless, more than 66 percent would like more technical training. One senior software engineer wrote, "Maintaining a good base of experienced, smart engineers is critical for product innovation but training is still very low on the priority list because of ever-changing technology and management's desire to cut costs."
In light of the economic malaise, it's no surprise that over 61 percent of the U.K. respondents did not receive bonuses for personal or company performance this year. Of the 38.8 percent lucky enough to get a sweetener, 354 readers received less than $5,000, but 63 got more than $7,000 in bonuses and 34 lucky (and probably very hard-working) EEs received more than $14,000.
Most respondents are happy with their careers and their employers (63.4 percent) and only 17.9 percent are not satisfied with either. Of the 1,193 people who responded to this question, 12.2 percent were looking to change employers and 6.5 percent were looking to change their careers. Confidence in the ease at which respondents felt they could find another job has dropped since last year, with 5.2 percent feeling that a job move would be very easy compared with 12.1 percent last year.
Slightly more EEs said they would be willing to relocate for a job: 50.9 percent, compared with 47.3 percent in 2001. While a high proportion of respondents are unwilling to move to find work, 46 percent believe engineers will have to consider it if they want to remain in the industry.
The economic downturn is reflected in the number of respondents who have been affected by restructuring. More than half (53.6 percent) said their companies downsized in the past 12 months, against 37.5 percent reporting downsizing in 2000-01. Moreover, more than 43.5 percent (445) reported layoffs in their immediate workplace, a sharp increase on last year's 26.9 percent. Also of concern to EEs is the fact that companies are making fewer new hires (28.8 percent) and a decrease in product development programs (28.1 percent). This is in bleak contrast with last year, when 29.8 percent reported an increase in development programs.
The result for employed engineers is added stress and an increased workload. One respondent involved in component/chip design said: "The way in which many redundancies [layoffs] have been handled means that many recently disposed-of engineers will leave the electronics industry altogether. In my company, there are now not enough engineers left to do the necessary work well."
Recent moves by U.K. companies to rethink retirement programs has contributed to pension anxiety, a concern for 77.5 percent of survey respondents. For companies, "the contribution cost of providing pensions is rising due to increasing life expectancy and lower expected investment returns," said a spokesperson for Amicus-MSF, the manufacturing and science trade union. "Many employers are attempting to switch the impact of rising costs directly onto employees by switching from final-salary to money-purchase schemes, which will provide much lower benefits unless employees contribute a lot more."
