For the second consecutive year, professionally registered engineers and technicians have reported higher average salaries than their unregistered colleagues according to The Engineer’s 2019 Salary Survey
The mean average salary for professionally registered respondents is £55,968, whilst it is £45,809 amongst respondents who are not professionally registered. In last year’s survey, the mean average salary for professionally registered respondents is £51,930, whilst it was £43,914 amongst non-registered respondents.
In total, 43 per cent of respondents to The Engineer’s 2018 salary survey said they are professionally registered. This represents an increase on last year’s figures, when 39 per cent of respondents told us they were professionally registered.
In this year’s survey, as with 2018, average salaries were higher amongst professionally registered respondents in every sector. The biggest difference was found amongst engineers coming from the Telecomms/Utilities and Electronics sectors where professional registration accounts for an average difference of almost £18k. There was also a pronounced gap of £13k amongst respondents working in Energy/Renewable and Nuclear sectors.
The smallest average gap was found in the Aerospace sector, where professionally registered respondents earn on average just over £2K more than their unregistered colleagues
Average salaries for professionally registered respondents were also higher at every level of seniority with the exception of Graduate Trainee/Apprentice level engineers where they were more or less equal. The differences were most pronounced at Director level (14k).
Interestingly, of those respondents who are professionally registered only 21 per cent agreed that professional registration had led to a higher salary for them.
Commenting on this year’s findings Alasdair Coates, CEO of UK engineering’s regulatory body The Engineering Council said: “Registrants consistently tell us that becoming professionally registered has increased their credibility, helped them gain promotion or win more business. These responses confirm what we saw in the same survey last year, that professional registration may also boost salary, demonstrating that it is an investment in your future.”
Produced in partnership with technical recruitment consultancy CBSbutler, the survey – now in its fifth year – attracted responses from 1,568 engineers from multiple sectors across the UK.
Seems to be a bit of a rash assumption that registration is the factor.
79% of those with professional registration didn’t make the same assumption and they probably know!
The ‘Boris effect’ on statistics seems to be everywhere these days, you say what you want to make it a fact!
“There are Lies, damn Lies and….statistics. One of my former employers-a public company, no less- was so caviller with their accounts that a well known Guardian of newsprint in the N West did once alter this to,” lies, damn lies and the XXXXX annual accounts”
I did once have occasion to point out to colleagues at what purported to be a University that basing a recommendation to a trade body on ‘two’ readings (not a sample of two, but just two) was hardly in the spirit of the mathematics involved: let alone on the reality!
This statistic does not show a causal link. This is bad science, especially for an engineering publication which should know far better. More ice creams being sold during summer does not mean ice cream consumption causes warmer weather.
And the last sentence makes a bit of a leap from “may” (uncertain) to “is” (certain): “Professional registration MAY also boost salary, demonstrating that it IS an investment in your future”.
Even 75% of directors do not agree that registration leads to higher salaries.
I can understand Alasdair Coates and this publication being biased towards registration (which has limited proven benefits to the individual (i.e. customer), while driving revenue for engineering institutions), however such biased and amateur analysis is just an embarrassment to the profession.
In my profession I visit and consult at engineering companies across the South West of England and Wales. Most of my meetings are with Directors, Owners and training Managers.
In my experience the article is somewhat correct, A lot of companies have adopted a professional registration based promotion and pay system with many other companies actively trying to build it into the fabric of the company.
With this comes an increase in pay and benefits (in most occasions, employer dependent)
It is a fact that this system or change of ethos is not going away and at some point will be adopted by the majority of Engineering companies across the UK. Professional Registration is being focused on from an early age and the majority of graduates and apprentices learning is based on UK-SPEC and accredited by a third parties.
It almost goes without saying that Engineering Technicians, Incorporated Engineers and Chartered Engineers are of great value to they’re parent companies, especially when tendering for business.
It has never been so important to be able to demonstrate professional competence and moving forward the appetite for that in the market will only increase. Unfortunately sometimes the value of the individual is overlooked by the institution/employer, however the more that demand it the more the individual is in demand.
If Registration was obligatory in order to practice: and have the insurance ‘protection’ resulting to deal with honest mistakes, as do most of the shams, that would go most of the way to achieve my over-riding wish: that our first duty and responsibility should be to our Profession : governed by Nature’s Laws. If we break such, both detection and punishment are immediate and inevitable! NOT employees!