A survey released today by Engineers Ireland reveals big jumps in salary for chartered engineers over the past three years, going against the general fraught feeling around jobs and pay at the moment.
Salaries for chartered engineers in healthcare have grown by an average of 27pc between 2005 and 2008, with civil and structural engineering salaries going up by 28pc and mechanical and manufacturing by 22pc.
Starting salaries for engineering graduates were also found to be as high as €31,000.
Speaking at the launch of the survey, John Power, chartered engineer and Engineers Ireland director general, said careers in the engineering industry continue to offer significant financial rewards and security, even in harsher economic times.
“There are still quite clearly job opportunities in pharmaceuticals, medical devices, environmental engineering, as well as demand for process and product engineers,” he said.
“And with this survey showing salary scales in a number of engineering categories continuing to increase, we would strongly advocate those considering career options to look at the lucrative and diverse possibilities the engineering industry can offer them.”
The salary survey, carried out this year in association with Brunel, the specialist technical recruitment division of Premier Group, also found that some 52pc of respondents indicated the economic slowdown was the biggest challenge facing the engineering sector, with 27pc citing skills shortage as the second biggest challenge.
“Naturally, engineering positions within the housing sector, like all jobs in this industry, have been affected by the slowdown. But there are still engineering jobs out there offering job security and excellent career possibilities,” said Power.
By Sorcha Corcoran
