General > General Technical Chat
Why are engineering salaries so poor in the UK? Or, why does the US pay so well?
Rick Law:
--- Quote from: lee_chen on May 25, 2018, 01:40:56 am ---I am a radio engineer and i have about three years of experience,but i just got your half income,less benefits... this is fact you have to face it .
--- End quote ---
Your purchasing power is likely more than 1/2 his. Depending on where you are in China, as measured by PP, you could be far better off (financially) than he is.
It is perhaps a natural law of business that businesses seeks to lower cost by outsourcing. It would be smart for higher cost countries/locales to climb the value tree to make their higher cost worth the extra. Trouble is, politicians rarely understand that. They merely try to attack the symptom but not the illness. Move such as mandating a minimum wage of X$/hr for job Y doesn't increase the value of the resulting product of job Y. It merely decreases the value of X$ to the value job Y. So, eventually, their constituency suffer.
This is coursed not problem with the OP's country alone. Merely a year ago, by widely published data, USA's living standard felt to that of 30 years ago. With the new administration, we climbed back but that is a short term thing. We need to develop and implement policies necessary to make sure that our productivity (in terms of value created) increase corresponding to the living standard we desire.
I am retired. So, I have an overwhelming desire to ensure that the $X I saved for retirement continue to have the same value rather than seeing it decline to match the lower value of "value created by job Y". So, it is a problem not just for the working alone. UK (the OP's locale), USA, and probably anywhere else in the world all need better politicians.
Harb:
--- Quote from: David Chamberlain on May 24, 2018, 11:09:34 am ---
--- Quote from: Harb on May 23, 2018, 02:44:02 pm ---I have been pretty lucky to own my own TV
--- End quote ---
What? You own your own TV on an engineers salary. Well mr fancy pants :)
--- End quote ---
I've actually got 2 that I own, but the 3rd one is going to have to go on long term payments lol.......
I guess the main thing is you have to enjoy what you do, and thats worth something as well.
I started out just working by myself and spent quiet a bit of time out in the field, which I really love the most....I just am the sort of person who likes it outside I guess........when I got into the OB business that kind of killed that, but I am retiring....sort of.....and I am again getting to do some subcontract outside stuff which again brings me joy.....So long story short, as long as you dont hate what you are doing, maybe a bit less money is ok......
VK3DRB:
--- Quote from: David Chamberlain on May 24, 2018, 11:09:34 am ---
--- Quote from: Harb on May 23, 2018, 02:44:02 pm ---I have been pretty lucky to own my own TV
--- End quote ---
What? You own your own TV on an engineers salary. Well mr fancy pants :)
--- End quote ---
But Mr. High N. Mighty did not tell you it was an old black and white TV. :-DD
Becoming an engineer for the money or to attract chicks is a bit short sighted really, especially if you end up living in a single room bedsit and your only choice in going on a date is sharing can of spam with the cleaning lady whilst watching Coronation Street on your 17 inch VGA computer monitor :popcorn:. Money does not buy happiness, but having a low VSWR on your home brew antenna can bring you great joy :-+.
Seriously, first and foremost people should only go into electrical/electronics engineering because they have a passion for it, not because of the money. Most engineers are comfortable, but never rich.
BNElecEng:
--- Quote from: DaveW on May 23, 2018, 10:55:13 pm ---Slightly less general points, but speaking as an engineer in the UK, the salaries can be better than what you're citing in the first post. From my teams, trick is to have a specialisation which is in demand without going too narrow and niche. On my teams I've had people north of that figure as RF experts, people with DV clearances, analogue experts and a few others I've forgotten. Or you can go the dark side and go team leader/management.
Will be interesting to see if this matches more general experience, but after 5 years I'd expect to see around senior level, starting to mentor people and hitting a salary over 40k. Not a bad life all in all when you factor (generally speaking) having an interesting job...
--- End quote ---
My feelings are along the same lines as DaveW.
The company I work for is based around Bedford and their structure is along these lines. Of the roughly 55 employees, there are 10 engineers with varying levels of experience. A fresh graduate pretty much has to eat humble pie for a couple of years but once they start coming into their own and contribute in a meaningful way, their salaries begin to climb rapidly. After the 5-6 year experience mark, they can expect to earn over £45k.
Graduates with a Masters or a PhD have slightly higher salaries, but it does taper off at the top end where experience counts more.
The most senior engineer doesn't have any university education, only the training he received in Avionics in the air force. He is a walking library of information who is ready to teach any who want to learn.
a59d1:
--- Quote from: BNElecEng on May 26, 2018, 09:48:20 am ---
--- Quote from: DaveW on May 23, 2018, 10:55:13 pm ---Slightly less general points, but speaking as an engineer in the UK, the salaries can be better than what you're citing in the first post. From my teams, trick is to have a specialisation which is in demand without going too narrow and niche. On my teams I've had people north of that figure as RF experts, people with DV clearances, analogue experts and a few others I've forgotten. Or you can go the dark side and go team leader/management.
Will be interesting to see if this matches more general experience, but after 5 years I'd expect to see around senior level, starting to mentor people and hitting a salary over 40k. Not a bad life all in all when you factor (generally speaking) having an interesting job...
--- End quote ---
My feelings are along the same lines as DaveW.
The company I work for is based around Bedford and their structure is along these lines. Of the roughly 55 employees, there are 10 engineers with varying levels of experience. A fresh graduate pretty much has to eat humble pie for a couple of years but once they start coming into their own and contribute in a meaningful way, their salaries begin to climb rapidly. After the 5-6 year experience mark, they can expect to earn over £45k.
Graduates with a Masters or a PhD have slightly higher salaries, but it does taper off at the top end where experience counts more.
The most senior engineer doesn't have any university education, only the training he received in Avionics in the air force. He is a walking library of information who is ready to teach any who want to learn.
--- End quote ---
A driven, excellent EE with an MS from a reputable school in the US has a good chance of making above 50 k$ right out if they apply to a growing company. Is your cost of living very low or is your company contracting? I would definitely not even apply to a company if it took me 6 years to crest the 45 k$ mark. You must be hiring some awfully weak engineers.
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