Electrical Engineers' Wages Zapped
Electrical Engineers' Wages Zapped
Date: Tuesday, December 28, 2004 7:19 PM
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
December 28, 2004. No. 1167
Variations on the theme of declining engineering wages are appearing in
newspapers across the country. While the truth finally comes out that
engineers are suffering wage deflation caused by H-1B and outsourcing,
the salary survey that was used could lead the public to conclude that
the average engineer makes six-figure salaries.
I must question the inflated median salary surveys that the IEEE
publishes. In my entire career as an EE I have never once obtained the
median salary that IEEE says I should be making, and I haven't seen
many other engineers earn six-figure salaries either unless they were
living in Silicon Valley or the Boston area. Inflated salary numbers in
IEEE statistics are not representative of most electrical/electronic
engineers but unfortunately they are considered the gospel truth by
reporters and university recruiters.
The reasons for the ultra-high salary figures are many, but here are
just a few:
1 - The IEEE only tallies IEEE members who respond to their survey.
This fact alone biases the results to a limited set of responders that
are members of an organization that probably represents a minority of
working engineers.
2 - Engineering managers often call themselves engineers because they
have a degree but they might not do any technical work. These managers
are often paid six figure salaries and that inflates the survey. IEEE
tends to have a high percentage of managers as members so this distorts
the sample even further.
3 - There is a demographic imbalance because a disproportionate number
of IEEE members are from Silicon Valley and the East coast where
salaries tend to be larger to pay for the higher cost of living.
The IEEE has found that the percentage drop in income for working
engineers was 1.5% in a single year. This was probably the most
important part of the survey because no attempt is made to look at the
salaries of all degreed engineers - including the ones that are now
working at Wal-Mart because they can't find engineering jobs. The
numbers of engineers that have been forced out of their career is
growing every single day but the IEEE ignores this fact.
Salary surveys of this type do more harm than good even if they show a
decline in income because the median salaries give the impression that
engineering is a highly paid career. Universities use these figures to
hype the value of engineering careers. Here is an example from a
Michigan technical university. Notice that this university says that
engineers are in demand, but it doesn't say how many engineering grads
actually get engineering jobs instead of call-center tech support or
sales positions. Sometimes what they don't say is far more important
than what they do.
According to a CNNmoney.com article, "The outlook for employment
opportunities for the winter class of 2004 is very promising.
Of the top 10 degrees in demand are almost all business,
engineering and computer related fields."
The top 10 was almost entirely comprised of degrees MTU offers.
The 25 percent of this year's class walking with a mechanical
engineering degree will find that persons with that degree are
the third most sought after in 2005. Electrical engineers are
the second highest on the list.
Most of these articles contain disclaimers from the ITAA claiming that
outsourcing and H-1B/L-1 visas aren't responsible for the decline in
salaries. Their denial of reality is totally self-serving since they
are paid to lobby Congress and to propagandize the press on behalf of
the companies that want to continue their destruction of American jobs.
Article used for this newsletter
http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2004/122204pr.asp
Incomes of Technical Professionals Decline,
IEEE-USA Salary Survey Reveals
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7172829
Offshoring Said to Zap Electrical Engineers' Wages
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,119036,00.asp
Survey: Tech Salaries Down Last Year
Decrease is the first since group began its survey in 1972.
http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=2520&cat_id=913
Dollar Pay Packets Decline For Tech Jobs
http://www.mtulode.com/viewarticle.php?ArticleID=3869
Making the final push
*** Note: The MTU website isn't censoring comments so feel free to give
the college kids a dose of reality.
http://www.ieeeusa.org/communications/releases/2004/122204pr.asp
Contact: Chris McManes
Senior Public Relations Coordinator
Phone: + 1 202 785 0017, ext. 8356
E-Mail: c.mcmanes@ieee.org
Incomes of Technical Professionals Decline,
IEEE-USA Salary Survey Reveals
WASHINGTON (22 December 2004) - Median income for electrotechnology and
information technology professionals declined for the first time in 31
years, according to the latest IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefit Survey.
Median incomes from primary sources - base pay plus any self-employment
income, commissions, or bonuses for U.S. IEEE members working
full-time in their area of professional competence decreased from
$101,000 in 2002 to $99,500 in 2003. This $1,500 drop (1.49 percent) is
the first time the median salary has not risen since the survey was
originally conducted in 1972.
Median salaries had shown substantial gains since 1994's median of
$67,000. The medians were $72,000 in 1996; $82,000 in 1998; and $93,100
in 2000.
When accounting for inflation and stated in constant 2004 dollars, 2003
purchasing power fell to $102,501 from $106,418 in 2002, a decrease of
3.68 percent. The 2003 figure is only slightly above the $102,480
reported in 2000, and is the first purchasing power decline in 15
years.
"These results are disturbing, but not surprising," IEEE-USA President
John Steadman said. "A host of factors, from offshoring and increased
use of guest worker visas, to rising health insurance costs and global
competition, are putting downward pressure on wages for U.S. high-tech
workers."
The Internet-based survey of the IEEE's U.S. membership was conducted
in late 2004. It is based on 2003 data from 12,584 respondents, the
highest response rate IEEE-USA has recorded. The vast majority of
respondents (11,182) are full-time workers. Of these, 10,114 were
employed in their primary area of technical competence, or job
specialty.
Job classifications include electrical and electronics engineers,
computer hardware and software engineers, and computer scientists and
system analysts, among others.
IEEE-USA is an organizational unit of the IEEE. It was created in 1973
to advance the public good and promote the careers and public-policy
interests of the more than 225,000 technology professionals who are
U.S. members of the IEEE. The IEEE is the world's largest technical
professional society. For more information, go to www.ieeeusa.org.
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7172829
Offshoring Said to Zap Electrical Engineers' Wages
Thu Dec 23, 2004 05:45 PM ET
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Electrical engineers have come in for a shock:
for the first time in more than three decades of technological
innovation, their salaries are dropping.
The median salary of an electrical engineer working in the United
States fell $1,500 in 2003, according to a survey released this week by
the IEEE-USA, a membership organization of 225,000 engineers. It was
the first drop since the group started tallying data in 1972.
"These results are disturbing, but not surprising," IEEE-USA President
John Steadman said in a statement. The group blamed a combination of
offshore outsourcing, competition from foreigners on guest worker
visas, and rising health insurance costs.
The drop contrasts with growth in overall U.S. personal income of more
than 3 percent in 2003.
Electrical engineers, who were critical to the development of the
personal computer, the cellular phone and the Internet, have seen their
salaries rise commensurate with the importance of electronics in
society. Ten years ago, the median salary was $67,000. By 2002, that
had grown to $101,000.
In 2003, the median wage dropped to $99,500.
The decline bolsters claims that the move by some U.S. employers to
relocate technology jobs to places like India and China is squeezing
local employees.
"It's tough for someone to go demand a raise when they know they could
lose their job overseas," said IEEE-USA spokesman Chris McManes.
http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,119036,00.asp
Survey: Tech Salaries Down Last Year
Decrease is the first since group began its survey in 1972.
Grant Gross, IDG News Service
Thursday, December 23, 2004
U.S. IT and electrotechnology professionals saw a 1.5 percent decrease
in their salaries in 2003, the first decrease since the Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA (IEEE-USA) began surveying
members in 1972, the group announced this week.
The median income of IEEE-USA members surveyed dropped from $101,000
for a full-time worker in 2002 to $99,500 in 2003. Until now,
respondents' salaries increased even during the first years after the
2000 dot-com bust. Median income of survey respondents rose from
$82,000 in 1998 to $93,100 in 2000, before topping out at $101,000 in
2002.
The Internet survey is based on actual tax forms, and the IEEE-USA will
conduct a 2004 salary survey in 2005. The group conducted the survey
every two years until recently.
The drop in income could be due to a variety of factors, including a
sluggish U.S. economy, an offshore outsourcing trend among technology
companies, and competition from foreign workers using immigrant worker
H-1B visas to get U.S. jobs, says IEEE-USA spokesperson Chris McManes.
Rising health insurance costs and general competition from overseas
workers may have contributed to the salary decrease, IEEE-USA officials
say.
A dot-com hangover could also be a factor, McManes adds. "A lot of
people were finding employment [in the late 1990s], and there was so
much of a frenzy that things were going ballistic," he says. "Maybe
salaries were going up so high that the drop now is a righting of the
ship."
Moving Overseas?
Bob Cohen, senior vice president at the trade group Information
Technology Association of America (ITAA), questions whether H1-B visas
and offshore outsourcing made a large impact on IT salaries. The annual
H-1B cap went from 65,000 in the U.S. government's fiscal year 1998 to
115,000 visas granted a year in 1999 and 2000, then up to 195,000 after
2000. The cap fell back down to 65,000 in fiscal year 2004.
But H-1B visa rules require employers to pay prevailing wages, Cohen
notes. Most technology companies using the visa program hire workers
with specific hard-to-find skills, he says.
An ITAA survey released in March estimated 104,000 U.S. software and
services jobs were moved overseas in 2003, but that's a small number
compared to the estimated 10.5 million IT jobs in the U.S., Cohen says.
While saving money on salaries may be part of the reason for offshore
outsourcing, most jobs lost are "at the low end" of salaries, he adds.
A more realistic cause of the salary decrease could have been a slow
U.S. economy, Cohen says. "Companies have been slow to spend on
top-line information technology programs and projects," he says.
The Internet-based survey of the IEEE's U.S. membership was conducted
in late 2004. It is based on 2003 data from 12,584 respondents, the
highest response rate IEEE-USA has recorded. The vast majority of
respondents, 11,182, were full-time workers.
Job classifications included electrical and electronics engineers,
computer hardware and software engineers, and computer scientists and
system analysts, among others.
http://www.cxotoday.com/cxo/jsp/article.jsp?article_id=2520&cat_id=913
Dollar Pay Packets Decline For Tech Jobs
Rising health insurance costs and global competition, are putting
downward pressure on wages for U.S. high-tech workers as evident in the
latest IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefit Survey.
For the first time in 31 years, the industry is witnessing the fall in
income for electro-technology and IT professionals.
Median incomes from primary sources base pay, plus any self-employment
income, commissions, or bonuses; for U.S. IEEE members working
full-time in their area of professional competence decreased from
$101,000 in 2002 to $99,500 in 2003. This $1,500 drop (1.49%) is the
first time the median salary has not risen since the survey was
originally conducted in 1972.
Median salaries had shown substantial gains since 1994's median of
$67,000. The medians were $72,000 in 1996; $82,000 in 1998; and $93,100
in 2000.
When accounting for inflation and stated in constant 2004 dollars, 2003
purchasing power fell to $102,501 from $106,418 in 2002, a decrease of
3.68 %. The 2003 figure is only slightly above the $102,480 reported in
2000, and is the first purchasing power decline in 15 years.
"These results are disturbing, but not surprising. A host of factors,
from offshoring and increased use of guest worker visas, to rising
health insurance costs and global competition, are putting downward
pressure on wages for U.S. high-tech workers," said John Steadman,
president, IEEE-USA.
The Internet-based survey of the IEEE's U.S. membership was conducted
in late 2004. It is based on 2003 data from 12,584 respondents, the
highest response rate IEEE-USA has recorded.
The vast majority of respondents (11,182) are full-time workers. Of
these, 10,114 were employed in their primary area of technical
competence, or job specialty. Job classifications include electrical
and electronics engineers, computer hardware and software engineers,
and computer scientists and system analysts, among others.
http://www.mtulode.com/viewarticle.php?ArticleID=3869
Making the final push
By: Jeff Sudderth - Staff Writer
Date Posted: December 01, 2004
It is that time of year again. For many the holidays are a festive time
for celebrations, eggnog and no more school.
The last part is true for the approximately 400 students graduating
from Michigan Tech this December and the wish list is probably a job at
a company they applied to or spoke with at the Career Fair.
About 300 hundred students will be earning their undergraduate degrees,
while around 100 students will be receiving their graduate degrees.
Students who finished their classes over the summer will also be
walking down the aisles to their diploma.
The graduates of this class are comprised of almost 25 percent
mechanical engineers, 10 percent business and electrical engineering,
respectively, and less than one percent chemical engineering. These
numbers reflect undergraduate statistics only.
According to a CNNmoney.com article, "The outlook for employment
opportunities for the winter class of 2004 is very promising. Of the
top 10 degrees in demand are almost all business, engineering and
computer related fields."
The top 10 was almost entirely comprised of degrees MTU offers.
The 25 percent of this year's class walking with a mechanical
engineering degree will find that persons with that degree are the
third most sought after in 2005. Electrical engineers are the second
highest on the list.
Chemical engineers will also find their majors lucrative.
In another CNNmoney.com article, chemical engineers have the highest
average starting salaries.The economy may have factors on where some
graduates are going. Some have decided to stay in school and further
their education by going to graduate school. Others decide to go back
home until a better offer comes along.
A small percentage of graduates are being commissioned into the armed
services. For these individuals, their future will involve a short stay
at officer's school at a military base and then on to their positions
as second lieutenants in the military.
Roy Johnson is graduating with a Forestry degree and is also being
commissioned in the Army. Johnson said, "I really don't know where I'll
be based, but I will be going to officer's school and then hopefully go
on to help operations in Afghanistan or Iraq."
That fact should help some sit through the commencement program. The
program traditionally is a showcase of the graduates.
In recent years there have been speakers who speak of their rise to the
top of their perspective fields and the path they chose to take. Many
also were Tech graduates, alumni who started their careers by ending
their college life at Michigan Tech.
The president along with the Dean of Students gives a short address to
the graduating class. Then each individual's name and major is
announced and they receive their diploma and a picture with the
department chair. The commissioning ceremony for the ROTC students will
be held then as well.
"I am really looking forward to getting commissioned. My dad is going
to be reading me the oath," said Johnson.
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