LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

ou never know until you ask, is a piece of well-worn advice given to interviewees. For many, the art of the ask can be difficult, particularly when it comes to money. Putting your mind at ease while pursuing proper compensation is possible by researching the job market and educating yourself regarding current salary trends. To that end, the IEEE-USA released its most recent annual Salary and Fringe Benefits Survey in 2007 to help both prospective engineers and those a l r e a d y i n the field get a better handle on current compensation trends. According to the study, nominal median

Going green: The IEEE-USA Salary and Fringe Benefits Survey

primary income for full-time engineers in their primary area of technical competence (PATC) continues to rise slowly, but increases continue to lag slightly behind inflation. At the same time, the youngest full-time workers saw a record percentage increase in base salariesup 49% from 1 January 2005 to 1 January 2007. Specialties in the broad area of engineering and human environment (which includes managers and educators) are no longer the most highly compensated. Communications technology (including the subspecialties of communications and consumer electronics) now holds that title. Other subspecialties that scored well with median primary income include solid-state circuits, nuclear and plasma sciences, engineering management, and systems, man, and cybernetics. The data included in the 2007 survey was collected solely via the Internet by utilizing IEEE membership numbers as passwords. The study includes 13,067 usable cases and full sample estimates of proportions are subject to a maximum sampling error of 0.8% at the 95% confidence level. The usable cases are comprised of 11,664 (89%) full-time employees as of 1 CRAIG January 2007. Of these, 10,820 (83%) CAUSER are engineers employed full time in their PATC. Knowing the relative compensation levels of different career situations can help you decide your technical specialty, where you live after graduation, or what companies you interview with for your first job, advises Christopher Currie, manager, product development and marketing at the IEEE-USA. It can also indicate where your skills would be in greatest demand and, of course, help you negotiate a fair salary when you eventually get a job offer. Compared to the 2001 study, fulltime workers currently depend significantly more on salary and net selfemployment income (82.7% in 2000, 88.2% in 2006) and earn substantially less from commissions and bonuses (8.3% versus 6.7%) and from profit sharing/other (5.2% versus 2.1%). Salaries have been trending down slightly in real dollars the past few years, Currie adds. The
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Table 1. Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by primary area of technical competence Number of Cases TOTAL CIRCUITS AND DEVICES Circuits and Systems Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology Electronic Devices Lasers and Electro-Optics Solid-State Circuits COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY Broadcast Technology Communications Consumer Electronics Vehicular Technology COMPUTERS Hardware Non-Internet Software Development Non-Internet Systems Analysis/Integration Non-Internet Software Applications Including Database Admin. Internet/Web Development/Applications Other ELECTROMAGNETICS AND RADIATION Antennas and Propagation Electromagnetic Compatibility Magnetics Microwave Theory and Techniques Nuclear and Plasma Sciences ENERGY AND POWER ENGINEERING ENGINEERING AND HUMAN ENVIRONMENT Education Engineering Management Professional Communication Reliability Social Implications of Technology INDUSTRIAL APPLICATIONS Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Industry Applications Instrumentation and Measurement Power Electronics SIGNALS AND APPLICATIONS Aerospace and Electronic Systems Geoscience and Remote Sensing Oceanic Engineering Signal Processing Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics and Frequency Control SYSTEMS AND CONTROL Control Systems Engineering in Medicine and Biology Industrial Electronics Information Theory Robotics and Automation Systems, Man and Cybernetics 10,820 1,843 706 200 306 167 464 1,185 55 988 97 45 2,582 369 1,016 317 167 349 364 559 167 94 47 177 74 1,677 243 30 168 8 35 2 460 15 209 135 101 836 287 55 7 442 45 839 386 176 79 15 113 70 Lowest Decile $66,000 70,000 65,000 72,170 72,350 71,280 80,000 70,950 60,100 72,160 73,850 67,400 64,130 68,000 65,000 60,880 58,820 64,000 64,350 67,500 66,170 65,860 69,440 66,900 81,250 63,500 68,840 48,200 79,720 61,200 65,190 65,000 62,520 66,100 75,000 79,960 70,040 74,310 72,260 60,900 62,000 61,400 54,640 54,700 68,610 Lower Quartile $85,530 90,000 84,700 89,080 93,500 95,000 97,250 97,500 75,500 97,530 101,750 99,920 84,990 87,000 85,020 83,460 77,000 83,820 85,960 86,000 87,000 80,000 83,000 85,000 97,130 80,000 94,000 70,300 100,160 76,120 80,640 79,300 84,500 83,490 92,180 96,000 78,000 90,000 86,250 78,000 78,230 82,000 65,900 68,000 95,750 Median $108,000 114,000 109,940 111,250 115,380 111,000 122,250 120,000 109,000 120,470 123,000 112,850 108,560 115,500 107,320 110,000 97,000 105,340 109,750 107,800 112,500 98,060 109,960 103,620 120,270 97,600 117,000 99,660 127,650 102,780 101,110 98,000 104,000 102,000 114,000 117,000 108,000 112,860 99,100 100,000 97,450 105,790 92,000 85,000 120,000 111,000 Upper Quartile $136,000 141,000 132,050 141,750 147,250 133,500 152,750 146,750 156,000 148,000 146,250 125,280 138,130 145,000 136,210 134,800 126,800 137,500 142,970 136,320 144,790 119,710 130,000 132,000 147,000 117,000 151,000 130,250 156,380 130,500 123,380 114,150 132,000 128,710 140,000 142,000 135,000 140,380 126,800 126,000 120,250 140,000 118,970 119,490 144,250 140,330 Highest Decile $168,490 175,000 162,030 185,240 180,000 160,120 187,250 183,540 226,800 183,310 181,600 145,400 168,000 177,500 164,790 163,400 158,610 163,000 181,000 168,000 193,600 144,060 168,720 160,600 178,400 144,000 180,350 178,020 183,390 182,000 153,780 141,000 167,040 154,700 170,150 178,860 172,800 165,350 166,000 160,000 150,240 173,300 160,000 136,200 174,000 180,300

OTHER 596 66,440 86,870 All figures and tables reprinted with permission from IEEE-USA. All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.

MAY/JUNE 2008

median income from primary sources for all workers employed full-time in their primary area of technical competence was US$108,000 in the 2007 survey, which was an increase of 3.1% from US$104,700 in 2006 but not equal to the inflation rate of 4.2%. The highwater mark for U.S. IEEE-member compensation was 2002, when the median was US$114,020 in 2006 dollars. For those respondents working fulltime in their PATC, Table 1 includes the results of income from primary sources for ten broad areas of technical competence as well relevant subgroups in these areas. Similar to last years study, median 2006 primary compensation is highest for those in the broad communications technology specialty

$180,000 $160,000 $140,000 $120,000 $100,000 Lower Quartile $80,000 $60,000 $40,000 2529 3034 3539 4044 4549 5054 5559 6064 65+ Upper Quartile

Median

Fig. 1 Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by age (in U.S. dollars)

Table 2. Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by sector Number of Cases TOTAL Private Industry: Defense Private Industry: Other than Defense or Utilities Non-Profit Institution: Except Education Federal Government: Other than Defense Federal Government: Defense Utilities Educational Institution State or Local Government Other All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars. 10,820 1,419 6,040 $205 309 470 1,089 897 129 231 Lowest Decile $66,000 72,170 69,330 66,280 67,000 67,450 63,000 51,450 55,000 62,710 Lower Quartile $85,530 93,000 89,390 86,870 89,520 87,300 80,000 70,000 69,000 85,000 Median $108,000 114,080 112,190 107,000 106,000 104,510 97,500 90,000 86,350 105,000 Upper Quartile $136,000 140,200 141,500 135,000 125,000 131,170 115,740 118,700 109,240 130,000 Highest Decile $168,490 168,860 176,000 171,700 147,730 150,000 141,600 152,000 142,000 166,030

Table 3. Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by primary job function Number of Cases TOTAL Management, general Management, technical Marketing, sales Administration/personnel services Basic research Systems engineering Consulting Design and development engineering Quality control, reliability, etc. Computer programming, systems software engineering Operations, construction and maintenance Engineering support Education, teaching, training Manufacturing and production Other job function All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars. 10,820 312 2,139 210 29 679 986 689 2,934 152 974 203 527 513 100 366 Lowest Decile $66,000 86,660 88,850 80,000 68,000 60,000 68,000 60,000 66,090 60,590 60,000 56,660 59,810 60,000 64,200 57,850 Lower Quartile $85,530 106,980 106,000 104,000 91,000 83,860 87,000 81,220 84,160 79,460 77,580 75,000 72,300 73,090 71,280 80,900 Median $108,000 140,480 130,000 129,170 119,470 108,550 106,650 106,000 104,130 97,940 97,000 93,560 91,510 90,000 87,500 103,150 Upper Quartile $136,000 190,220 160,000 160,000 165,500 133,500 131,130 137,000 128,760 114,800 119,360 108,000 107,500 118,300 105,970 132,250 Highest Decile $168,490 240,000 200,000 199,470 221,000 160,000 155,250 178,820 153,000 130,470 143,250 135,240 127,560 150,000 145,800 170,500

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(US$120,000) and lowest for those in energy and power engineering (US$97,600). The report includes specific subspecialties that are particularly lucrative, based on median primary income, including solid-state circuits, communications, consumer electronics, nuclear and plasma sciences, engineering management, and systems, man and cyberneticseach at US$120,000 per year or more. The subspecialties bringing up the bottom of the table include nonInternet software applications, control systems, industrial electronics, and robotics and automationeach below US$98,000. When comparing salaries, prospective employees must also consider the sector in which their desired job falls.

Summer to See 2008 Salary Survey

The 2008 Salary was conducted in April and results will be released in the summer. IEEE Members can access the IEEE-USA Salary Service at http://salary.ieee.org. Members receive access to the salary calculator tool after first completing the Salary Survey. Students are eligible to take the survey, too, although some of the questions will not be relevant to those not actively employed.

For the 2007 study, those working in private industry (defense or otherwise), nonprofit institutions (other than education), and the federal government (defense or otherwise) earned top primary incomes (see Table 2). Those working in state or local government or educational institutions earn the least, on average, which has been a trend for the last few years. The best-paying lines of business are those most likely to employ members: communications, computers, and aerospace. Automotive, metals, and education workers earn the least, on average. Compensation among the various job functions of IEEEs U.S. members working in their PATC are listed in Table 3. Members who are involved in

Table 4. Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by highest degree earned Number of Cases TOTAL Ph.D. J.D. MBA MSEE or MSCE Other Master's BSEE or BSCE Other BS BSCS BET or BSET BA Two-year All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars. 10,820 2,902 18 624 2,511 829 2,954 190 186 323 118 82 Lowest Decile $66,000 75,000 76,690 72,650 69,400 60,000 62,660 51,470 57,460 59,840 60,590 Lower Quartile $85,530 95,000 93,000 90,850 87,000 76,090 81,500 69,980 78,000 73,770 69,880 Median $108,000 119,130 114,500 111,500 109,700 97,610 100,750 87,980 98,000 100,000 91,600 Upper Quartile $136,000 147,930 145,000 138,000 136,380 120,310 129,250 109,630 126,000 134,200 116,670 Highest Decile $168,490 180,000 189,750 167,000 167,950 150,000 164,640 126,860 166,140 167,840 150,000

Table 5. Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by gender and experience Number of Cases Men TOTAL Less than 3 years 34 56 79 1014 1519 2024 2529 3034 3539 4044 45 years or more 10,227 521 468 477 807 1,370 1,521 1,637 1,503 1,003 623 214 83 Women 592 56 44 51 69 99 85 100 54 22 8 4 0 Lower Quartile Men $86,570 52,000 60,930 68,550 77,390 87,000 94,400 100,000 99,900 101,000 97,260 98,990 92,000 Women $72,000 47,000 60,970 65,990 68,000 83,010 80,770 90,390 93,000 Men $109,000 62,850 72,000 84,000 94,200 106,000 113,500 120,000 120,000 122,000 120,830 119,740 121,000 Median Women $94,320 60,240 73,300 78,800 84,000 98,380 97,000 107,480 113,500 Upper Quartile Men $137,200 82,000 87,530 102,000 114,000 131,000 136,000 148,000 149,410 152,000 155,000 143,060 153,000 Women $116,450 70,880 96,910 100,000 99,60 117,000 127,500 137,780 134,250

All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars.

MAY/JUNE 2008

management lead all others in compensation. These include general managers, who earned a median of US$140,480 in income from primary sources (up 5.2% from last year), and technical managers, with a median of US$130,000 (up 2.4%). Seeing notable percentage gains from the prior year are marketing/sales (US$129,170, up 9.5%), quality control/reliability (US$97,940, up 8.8%), and operations/construction/maintenance (US$93,560, up 11.1%). The category of manufacturing/production saw its median income fall 3.8%, to US$87,500. The 2007 survey reported an ongoing trend where the most lucrative lines of business include organizations that are most likely to employ members. Communications, computers, and aerospace companies compensated their employees the best, while those working in the automotive, metals, and education fields earned the least.

median of US$111,500, nearly US$14,000 more than the median earned by those with a B.S.E.E. or B.S.C.E. as their highest degree.

Gauging age, education, gender, and ethnicity

Mixing the talk of salary with age, education, gender, and ethnicity always has the potential of becoming a powder keg debate, and the results of the study show a marked disparity in a number of categories. What remains consistent is that while salaries tend to climb between the ages of 25 and 44, they inevitably level out during the middle age years (Fig. 1). When it comes to education for IEEE members working in their PATC, the results are expected (Table 4). Respondents with doctoral degrees scored the top salaries with median primary incomes of US$119,130 a year. MBAs earned US$114,500, a 5.3% increase from last year. Those holding an M.S.E.E. or M.S.C.E. followed with a

WOMEN STILL LAG BEHIND MEN AT EVERY EXPERIENCE LEVEL EXCEPT THREE TO FOUR YEARS, WHERE THEY HAVE A SLIGHT ADVANTAGE; THE DISPARITY IS GREATEST AT 1525 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.

The 2007 survey showed median primary income highest for respondents in their late 40sa younger age than in all past surveys, Currie adds. Women still lag behind men at every experience level except three to four years, where they have a slight advantage; the disparity is greatest at 1525 years of experience. Women make up 5% of all members working full time in their PATC, and they continue to trail men in primary income, even when experience is controlled (Table 5). As in previous years, entry-level positions find males and

females near parity, but males increasingly gain ground as they build experience until more than US$16,000 in median primary income separates men from women at the 15- to 19-year level. The disparity narrows a bit as experience increases but remains at US$6,500 per year for those with 2529 years of experience (the last category that can be tabulated). Gender is mostly a nonfactor when it comes to the salaries of non-Hispanic whites, Asian/Pacific Islanders, and ethnicities other than those listed (Table 6). The results begin to slide with Hispanics falling more than US$8,000 below the grand median of US$108,000. NonHispanic African Americans fared worse, with salaries more than US$15,000 below the grand median. Both Hispanics, with 299 cases, and nonHispanic African Americans, with 145 cases, represented a small number of the 10,820 total cases. Despite the alarming numbers, the median primary income for both groups increased more rapidly in the past year than the overall average of 3.2%, with Hispanics rising 6.2% and African Americans increasing 5.5%. According to the 2007 survey, workers in communications, computers and the defense sector, those functioning in a management capacity, and possessors of Ph.D. and MBA degrees achieved the top-level salaries. However one chooses to utilize the data, Currie offers an important bit of advice for both students and current employees to keep in mind when considering a career. Salary is not the only, nor necessarily the most, important criterion for career choices. Craig Causer is the managing editor of IEEE Potentials.

Table 6. Those working full time in their PATC: 2006 primary income by ethnic background Number of Cases TOTAL African American (not Hispanic origin) American Indian or Alaskan Native Asian or Pacific Islander Hispanic White (not Hispanic origin) Other ethnicity All dollar amounts are in U.S. dollars. 10,820 145 18 1,205 299 8,839 261 Lowest Decile $66,000 62,680 63,420 59,820 67,100 61,000 Lower Quartile $85,530 73,900 85,000 79,450 86,190 81,000 Median $108,000 92,910 108,000 99,810 108,500 107,250 Upper Quartile $136,000 114,180 135,000 123,000 137,000 134,250 Highest Decile $168,490 141,410 165,000 162,000 170,000 153,520

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