Qualified professional engineers have done well despite the recession, figures show.
Those holding the professional engineering qualifications Chartered Engineer (CEng), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) or Engineering Technician (EngTech) are very likely to have held on to their jobs.
According to a recent survey by the Engineering Council, only 1.5% of respondents were “unemployed and seeking re-employment” in May, far below the national average of 7.3%.
Andrew Ramsay, chief executive of the Engineering Council said: “It would be amazing if registered engineers had not suffered some effects from the cold economic climate, but the message from this survey seems to be that qualified engineers are still in demand in the UK.”
The research, which was carried out by ERS Research on behalf of the Engineering Council, surveyed nearly 3000 registered engineers resident in the UK and below the official retirement age of 65. It revealed that all levels of registrants have seen a rise in earnings since 2007.
EngTechs saw their median total earnings rise by 12% to £37,000, CEngs saw them rise by 10% to £55,000 and IEngs saw them rise a more modest 6% to £43,000.
There is a slow but sure increase in the proportion of registered engineers who have their subscriptions and registration fees paid by their employer, with figures rising from 47% in 2003 to 57% in 2010.
Mr Ramsay added: “The 2010 survey has produced another set of interesting and, on the whole, positive statistics. We have also this year for the first time commissioned a survey of non-registered engineers and look forward to reporting on those results shortly.”
Lorenzo Spoerry
