Resources: EE salaries up all over [Careers

Abstract

Many engineers are beginning to realize the importance of job security since the dot-com bubble burst a few years ago. Instead of expecting to hit the jackpot, engineers are simply looking for interesting jobs that won't disappear. This benefits many established companies that found it difficult to compete with the extravagant compensation many start-ups were offering during the boom. Today, we're seeing salary increases of about three to five percent, with the possible exception of select areas such as nanotechnology and medical devices. Companies are also starting to recruit directly from colleges whose wages aren't moving upward rapidly. Salaries for engineers are increasing much faster in low-wage countries such as India and China. Although still a third to a quarter what we see in the US, it has become a factor the career planning of US engineers, many of whom are looking at roles that can't be outsourced easily, such as that of field application engineers.