A Picture of You

By Steve Kuehn, Managing Editor

Readers Offer a Snapshot of Their Financial and Professional Lives in Our 2004 Survey Results

Take a picture of yourself. Look at the photo. If you see a reasonably successful man in his mid 40s with a few more wrinkles and perhaps a little less hair, a keen look in his eye and a wry smile that says he's been through a lot but remains optimistic about his job, then you are the spitting image of the typical Control Design reader who responded to our fourth-annual salary and job satisfaction survey.

 

Granted, how "successful" one feels is entirely subjective, but salary is one aspect that most of us agree offers a common, bottom-line measure of our personal self-worth and professional prosperity. This year, respondents reported their median average annual salary was just over $71,000. Not surprisingly, that figure, in practical terms, is little changed from salary averages reported by our three prior surveys ('01: $67K, '02: $66K, '03: $72K).

 

 

Drill down a bit and average salary levels relative to industry segment reveal that for certain categories one's earning potential may be greater.

 

For example, respondents reported the highest salaries were being paid in the printing trades, rolling mill machinery, industrial fans/blowers and semiconductor industries. Those categorizing themselves as engineering & systems integration specialists or I & C suppliers reported salaries well above the statistical mean as well.

 

In the middle of the salary pack were folks reporting in from the industrial HVAC, engine & turbine, pumps and pumping equipment and packaging machinery industries.

 

But, if you are in the air & gas compressor business, or working in the oil & gas field machinery industry somewhere in the middle of Texas and you find yourself thinking "I'm making peanuts," then our data may back up your gut feeling. Respondents placing themselves in those categories reported the lowest average salaries of the entire group.

 

Attitudes Shifting?

Since the survey's inception, respondents have been asked to gauge their level of job satisfaction. Compared to the last three years, this year's group had the largest portion of readers (28%) responding they were "very satisfied." And while the 'fairly satisfied," "somewhat satisfied" and "disappointed" responses tended to be only marginally lower, the data does seem to suggest a shift to a more positive attitude about jobs and the industry is emerging among our readers as the industry slowly moves into better economic circumstances.

 

If there is a positive trend to gauge here, it's helped by the fact that the majority responded positively to the job security question. The general tone of responders' comments were also sounding more upbeat and less repressed. Reading between the lines, it's easy to get a sense that people are feeling a little less discouraged and that the uncertainty and pessimism that so obviously pervaded last year's survey ("At the Limit," Aug. '03, p28) is beginning to fade.

 

Weighing in with his silver-lining analysis was a "very satisfied," electrical engineer from Virginia who wrote "With the layoffs we have gone through, we now have a very lean but well-working team." A "very satisfied" veteran systems integrator from Colorado remarked that "Controls engineering can be fun and challenging," a happy sentiment echoed by an Ohio-based design engineer (with a combined salary and bonus below the tabulated salary average by the way) who offered this advice to someone contemplating entering the field: "I would highly recommend it. It is a good field, with ample opportunity and job security."