1998 Salary Survey
Find out how you rank among your colleagues, and learn about their attitudes toward their jobs.
Jon Titus, Editorial Director -- Test & Measurement World, 8/1/1998
Most people enjoy reading a salary survey, or at least they like to look through the accompanying charts, figures, and tables. Who wouldn’t want to check out how his or her peers are doing? This year, T&MW’s salary survey gives you an inside look at what you and your peers said about the salary and benefits that you receive. You’ll learn about the attitudes and future directions of other people in the test industry.
This spring, we sent 3000 survey forms to readers chosen randomly from our circulation database. We included a one-dollar incentive and a postpaid envelope with each questionnaire. When we tabulated the data used to prepare this article, we had received 880 responses, a return rate of just more than 29%. We received responses from each of the regions specified in the questionnaire, which included not only the continental US, but also Alaska, Hawaii, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Other. The most unusual response came from someone in the Mariana Islands. (For the salary rankings, we eliminated responses from outside the continental 48 states, because the returns were too small to provide statistically valid results.)
Participants did not answer every question, so the base of valid answers varies slightly from question to question. We have noted the base number of responses in the text and in the charts and tables so you will know how many people responded to each question. We also have noted the number of responses to questions when appropriate. Total percentages may exceed 100% due to rounding and because some questions allow multiple answers. Unfortunately, we could analyze the answers to the 42 questions on the survey in only a few ways for this article.
Look at Salary Ranges
Unlike past T&MW salary surveys, in this survey we asked participants to specify ranges instead of specific values. For example, the range for salaries starts at below $25,000 and increases in $5000 steps to more than $100,000. Information about ranges should prove more helpful than specific dollar amounts. In the survey, we specified ranges such as $55,000 to >$60,000. For clarity, we’ve dropped the less-than sign in the ranges. A dollar one way or the other makes little difference in reporting the ranges.
The results of this survey show that our respondents received an average salary in the range of $55,000 to $60,000 (base 850). The median also falls into that range. That result means that salaries improved slightly from those we measured when we conducted our last survey in early 1996. Because a few very high or very low numbers can throw off an average, our results also include the median values where appropriate. A median value is the "middle" value in the response: an equal number of values fall above and below it.
Salaries vary by where you live, so we divided the US into seven areas and plotted the percentages of people in each salary range (Fig. 1). To make it easy to compare results, each graph also includes a bar chart showing the overall US salary ranges. We took the salary-survey results from our 1996 and 1994 salary surveys and included them in the graphs, too (see "For Further Reading," p. 34).
Salaries in the Northeast and Northwest follow the national averages fairly closely. The reports from participants in the Southeast and the Midwest show more salaries coming in at the lower end of the ranges. These lower salaries probably reflect lower costs of living and less job mobility in these areas.
California Ranks Highest
Higher salaries show up in the results from participants in the Southwest and Mid-Atlantic areas. As you may have suspected, salaries in California are at the high end of the scale.
 |
| See Figure 1 |
|
Salaries also vary by the industry in which you work (Table 1). The people in the test-and-measurement and computers-and-peripherals industries receive the highest average salaries—those in the $60,000 to $65,000 range. The lowest averages, from $50,000 to $55,000, go to people working in medical-instrumentation and industrial-control companies. The remaining industry groups all average between $55,000 to $60,000. Remember, though, that these salaries represent only averages. Almost every category included people at the high end and the low end of the salary ranges.
|
|
The amount you earn also will vary depending on your experience in the electronics industry, your experience in a test-related job, and your education. Figure 2 shows how experience in the electronics industry influences the average salary. It is no surprise that salaries increase with experience, but this year we were surprised when we saw the average salary paid to newcomers—those in the industry for under a year. They receive an average of between $45,000 and $50,000.
 |
|
Recent graduates may receive a boost in starting salary due to the dearth of electrical engineers looking for work in a hot economy. The differences between experience in test-related fields and in electronics in general seem to affect salaries only slightly.
Educated Professionals Earn the Most
Salaries also relate to your education (Table 2). In our survey, the people with advanced degrees receive the most money. The respondents with a master’s degree or a Ph.D. in a technical field average between $60,000 and $65,000. Those with an M.B.A. or a master’s in electrical engineering rank in the $65,000 to $70,000 range. And the holder of a Ph.D. in electrical engineering can figure on an average salary between $85,000 and $90,000, according to our results. (The Ph.D.E.E. results come from a small sample, though.) As you probably expect, without a college degree you’ll most likely find yourself at the low end of the salary scale.
|
|
When you compare the salaries based on experience and those on education, you’ll note that an advanced degree can put you on track to a higher salary. In terms of the averages, someone with an M.S. or higher degree earns the same amount as someone with many years of experience. Granted, some of the more experienced people have advanced degrees, so the comparison isn’t perfect. If you’re thinking about going back to school, these salary tables may convince you that further education will pay off in the long term.
Engineers don’t live by salary alone. Participants received small amounts of additional income from bonuses, profit sharing, and overtime. More than two thirds of the 847 people who answered our "extra income" question said they received from $0 to $2000 as a bonus. Overall, the average person received a bonus between $2000 and $4000. As you might expect, though, the amounts of the bonuses closely track salary—the larger the salary, the larger the bonus. Sixteen people who earn more than $100,000 reported receiving bonuses of $15,000 or more. In total, 35 people reported bonuses of $15,000 or more.
Who Gets a Bonus?
We also asked people how their company determined who gets bonuses. About 37% of the 847 respondents who answered the question indicated that their companies do not award bonuses. Almost 50% of the people who do receive bonuses have them awarded company-wide or individually on merit. The remaining people receive bonuses that their employer awards to departments, divisions, or teams.
When it comes to profit sharing, very little of it trickles down to our participants. Eighty percent of the 854 participants who received profit-sharing income reported it as being in the $0 to $2000 category. And the average profit sharing amount among all those who receive such income also falls into this category.
For most electrical engineers, unpaid overtime comes with the job. We found that 84% (850 base) of our participants received between $0 and $2000 in overtime pay.
Most People Get a Raise
Thankfully, companies still give raises. Just about 80% (852 base) of the forms we received indicated that the respondents received a raise in the past year. And the raises given to that group of people seemed spread evenly throughout the year. Of the remaining people who received a raise, about 8% received it within 12 to 15 months, and the last 13% received a raise more than 15 months ago.
|
|
|
We asked how much of a raise people received, but 131 people chose not to answer the question—15% of the respondents. The remaining group of 749 people indicated that they received raises ranging from less than 1% to more than 10%. The large majority (64%) received a raise between 2% and 6% of their salary amount. The average falls in the range of 3% to 4%. A majority expects to receive a salary raise in the range of 2% to 6% next year.
We wanted to know how the company determined the raises that these people got. More than 95% of the 766 people who answered this question checked answers that fall into the following categories: merit increase, normal cost-of-living raise, promotion, and job change. One person answered, "Who knows?"
Because engineers like to compare salaries with those of their peers, we included a question in our survey that asked them how they thought their income compared with that of other engineers in the electronics industry. Over a base of 857 replies, here’s how these people saw their salaries: significantly lower—20%; slightly lower—31%, about the same—37%, slightly higher—10%, and significantly higher—3%. It shouldn’t surprise you that people at the low end of the salary scale see their peers as receiving better salaries. On the other hand, the people at the highest salaries realize that on the average they receive better pay than their peers.
Eighty one percent of our respondents receive a formal review of their performance. That means, though, that 19% do not. We asked these people to tell us how their boss evaluates their performance if not through a regular review. Verbatim responses included personal contact, day-to-day observation, and "I am the boss." Unfortunately, we also read responses such as, "Don’t know," "Unsure," and "When he feels like it."
Benefits Remain Steady
Salary provides a basic living, but benefits figure into the compensation equation, too. So we asked about the types of benefits that people receive. The information in Table 3 shows how many people receive each type of benefit, and it compares the ranking with information from our 1996 article. The new information revealed no unusual trend. But the lack of retirement plans reported by so many people seems worrisome. Many people can participate in 401(k) plans, though.
|
|
Companies pay their workers to do a job, but we wonder how often these employers take time to ask their employees if they enjoy what they do. We asked our survey audience how they like their job and found that the vast majority like what they’re working on most of the time (Table 4). Eleven percent of the respondents enjoy their job less than a quarter of the time. In today’s excellent job market for engineers, we find it startling that so many unhappy people remain in jobs they don’t like.
 |
Given that the overall employment picture for engineers looks bright, we wondered where our respondents see themselves in five years. Perhaps they would launch a new business or go into consulting. Table 5 lists the aspirations of these people. Most people plan on staying where they are or moving up to a better job with their present employer. Our data showed little correlation between these aspirations and salary levels. The people at the high end of the salary range gave just about the same answers as those at the low end.
|
|
Why Would You Leave?
Most employees don’t have complete control over their future, so we wanted to know what single most important reason might compel them to leave their present job. A significant number of people plan to retire, but overall, people want more challenges in their work or they want opportunities for advancement. The need to make more money came in fifth on the list, behind 43% of the other responses.
Here in the northeast, The Boston Globe provides a reasonable gauge of the employment picture for engineers. Each Sunday’s job listings contain hundreds of openings for electrical and computer engineers. So we wondered how many people went job hunting last year. Slightly more than 30% (859 base) of the survey participants looked for a job. We thought that perhaps the lower-paid people might form the core of the job seekers, but the difference between the salaries of these two groups was smaller than expected. The job seekers had a median salary in the $50,000 to $55,000 range. Those who did not seek a new job came in with a median of $55,000 to $60,000.
We wanted to find out how these job seekers look for a new employer. We received 250 responses and we allowed multiple answers to this question. More than two thirds of the answers indicated that people use—in fairly equal measures—newspapers, friends and colleagues, and Web sites when they look for a new job. The remaining one third of the answers indicate the use of employment agencies, professional societies, job fairs, and alumni job postings.
Stay Up-to-Date
No matter where engineers find themselves, they must stay current in their field. To gauge how they keep up-to-date, we asked questions about involvement with professional groups, attendance at conferences, and participation in continuing-education programs. About 64% of the participants said they had attended a trade show or professional conference within the last year (base 865).
We also asked what skills our participants felt they needed most to benefit their career. About 53% answered that they need more practical hands-on experience with new technologies. The participants also ranked highly the need for leadership skills and specialized engineering skills to stay current or to advance their careers. At the bottom of the list came marketing or public-relations expertise, which only 12.5% of the respondents thought of as important skills.
Unfortunately, though, few of our respondents join technical societies. Just more than 64% said they belong to no professional electronics or test-related society (base 791). Of those who do belong, 21% belong to the IEEE, followed by 2.1% in the National Conference of Standards Laboratories (NCSL), and less than 1% in the American Society of Test Engineers (ASTE). More than 15% of the people wrote in initials for groups we didn’t list on the survey form. (We allowed multiple answers, so percentages add to more than 100%.)
Work Isn’t Always a Joy
Overall, our respondents seem happy with their jobs and their income, but we wanted to know, "What is the most difficult part of your job?" We got deluged with answers—nine-and-one-half pages of comments! Below we have distilled some of the answers that we saw repeated many times:
- communications with customers, managers, boss, other departments;
- dealing with inept, incompetent, difficult people;
- getting everything done in time, meeting schedules;
- getting managers to pay attention;
- keeping up-to-date; and
- paperwork, personnel, and politics.
At least no one said, "Filling out questionnaires." T&MW
FOR FURTHER READING
Romanchik, Dan, "Things Are Looking Up …Maybe," Test & Measurement World, Newton, MA, August 1993, p. 45.
Romanchik, Dan, "Your Salary Depends on Where You Live," Test & Measurement World, Newton, MA, August 1994, p. 36.
Titus, Jon, "Test & Measurement World Salary Survey," Test & Measurement World, Newton, MA, August 1996, p. 30.
