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Salaries of U.S. IEEE Members Reach Record Level |
NEWS from The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - United States of America 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 1202, Washington, D.C. 20036-5104 WASHINGTON (8 May 2001) - The IEEE-USA Salary and Fringe Benefit Survey, 2001 Edition will be encouraging reading to U.S. IEEE members -- showing substantial gains in the salaries of our members. The number of respondents nearly doubled to more than 9,700, largely because the survey was conducted online for the first time. The increase in the database volume will make the survey the biggest and most accurate of the 15 studies of member compensation that IEEE-USA has conducted. The survey will be released in June. The 2001 survey will show major gains in the value of professional services in electrical, electronics and computer engineering. The previous survey, conducted in 1999, reported the largest increase ever in the real incomes of U.S. IEEE members when measured in constant dollars. The 2001 edition shows substantial further gains; clearly, employers are placing increasing value on the services of EEs. The median value of base pay for members working full time in their area of professional competence has risen by 6.5 percent since 1999. Coupled with the gains reported in 1999, our members have seen their purchasing power increase by more than 18 percent over the last four years. These gains are for all members as a group. Most individuals will have done much better because they have also received annual raises reflecting their increased experience. As of January 2001, the median primary income -- which includes base pay, commissions and bonuses, and any net income from self-employment -- of U.S. IEEE members working full time in their primary area of technical competence was $93,100. Two years ago the figure was $82,000. The gains look even better if income from all sources is counted, adding in earnings from second jobs, payments for overtime, pension benefits and the like. This pushes the median incomes of engineers working full time in their specialties up to $99,000 in 2001, compared to $87,200 in 1999. Both gains represent increases of 13.5 percent in absolute (not constant) dollars. In addition to these types of compensation, more than a third of U.S. IEEE members in the workforce received stock options in 2000. Although the share receiving stock options has increased from 27.5 percent in 1997, the typical estimated worth of the options was much lower, to a median estimated value of $5,000. This is half the size of the figure reported in 1999. The failure of the dot-com investment craze has affected the option-compensation picture, and fully a third of all those receiving options in 2000 assessed them as worthless by early 2001. At the same time, some members received very large compensation in the form of options, including awards valued at $1 million or more. Hence, the 2001 survey reveals both the risks and the potential rewards of stock options as a component of overall compensation. IEEE-USA's 2001 salary and fringe benefits survey benefited immensely from a change in data collection. In the past, members were asked to fill out paper questionnaires. This time, they responded to questions on an Internet site. The shift to online data collection significantly lowered the cost of the survey. And the greater number of respondents means that details not reported in the past will be found this year. So why should you order a copy of the survey? Simply put, it is the only real source for timely, vital information that you must have to assess your market value as an engineer. It is clearly the definitive salary and reference guide for technical professionals. In addition to the survey, an online salary calculator will be available for a nominal cost through the IEEE-USA Web site www.ieeeusa.org. This personal salary estimator replaces Salary Benchmarks: A Personal Workbook, and will make it easier than ever to make sure you're getting paid what you' re worth. The IEEE-USA Salary & Fringe Benefit Survey, 2001 Edition, which will be available in June from the IEEE's Service Center in Piscataway, N.J., can be ordered now by IEEE members for the special pre-publication price of US$64.95. The regular member price is US$74.95. This is half off the US$149.95 price for non-IEEE members. To order, call +1 800 678 IEEE (4333) and ask for product number UH-2990. |
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