2006 Salary Survey results show pay is up
ControlDesign.com
Keywords: salary survey, 2006 salary survey and state of mind
Salary increases and a healthy optimism among machine control professionals are the highlights of our 2006 Salary and State-of-Mind Survey. Check out all the data and our series of interviews here.
By Rick Pedraza, Digital Managing Editor
Results from our 2006 Salary and State-of-Mind Survey show annual base salaries and overall wage compensation for machine control professionals have escalated again after holding relatively steady the past few years. After a modest climb in 2005 that saw salaries rise 2.5% to a new high, the reported average earnings of controls professionals in the machine builder industry in 2006 is $76,876, a 5.5% rise over the previous year and the highest average earnings reported in the six years of our survey.
The survey also shows that, although hands-on-experience is waning, concerns about job security are declining and the overall level of job satisfaction is improving. In fact, results show the general state of mind of industry professionals to be at a level not reached since the start of the new millennium.
According to the survey, average earnings for responding machine control engineers in all sectors of the industry are more than 15% higher today than they were before the economic slowdown that occurred in the manufacturing sector after 9/11. These findings come on the heels of employment figures released last quarter by the U.S. Department of Labor that showed unemployment in the manufacturing sectors to be at 4.6%, the lowest level in five years.