Based on the survey results, this job satisfaction is tied to a number of factors. While salary is a leading factor, it is not the only factor. Like previous years, the feeling of accomplishment rated the highest, with solutions challenge, benefits, salary, pleasant work environment, good relationship with work colleagues, and job security also contributing factors. The top four most important benefits are health insurance (63.6%), pension plan/401K (47.7%), flexible working hours (40.5%), and paid time off (33.2%).
Again this year, we asked respondents to tell us if they were currently seeking new job opportunities. Those who are actively seeking new opportunities made up 8.0% of respondents and had an average annual salary of $98,166—about $8,000 less than the average. Passive job seekers made up 36.9% of respondents, whose average salary was slightly less than average at $104,103. Those not seeking new opportunities (55.1%) were making an above average salary of $109,809.
There is a message here for employers. If you are paying less than the industry average, you could very likely lose your engineers. Based on data from automation techies, a recruiting and contract staffing company based in Minnesota, there is a high demand forautomation professionals, and high-quality candidates are hard to find. When companies do find good candidates, the candidates typically have multiple offers on the table. If your company employs high-quality professionals, pay them well, or you may lose them.
When we asked respondents if their company has a hard time finding/hiring automationprofessionals, nearly 60% said “yes.” The job function that is hardest to fill, as identified by 61.9% of the respondents, is automation/control engineering. A distant second was instrumentation engineering (28.2%), followed by process engineering (17.1%).
There is nothing new here. We are in the middle of a skills shortage. By many estimates, we failed to train an entire generation of technical professionals. As the bar chart indicates, more than half (51%) of those surveyed said they will be retiring in the next 15 years.
Is there a silver lining? Many companies end up hiring retirees back to work as consultants, simply because they cannot find other employees with the necessary skills. It appears that the number of retirees who are willing to work after retirement is holding at 45.8% (exactly the same as last year). These respondents said they will retire in the next 10 years, but indicated they will continue to work part-time or offer consultingsolutions after retirement.
We asked our survey respondents to give us an idea of how the economy is affecting certain factors within their companies.Economic effects
For the majority of respondents (more than 60%), most of the factors like salary, bonuses, overtime, layoffs, and promotions remain unchanged. However, here are three positive signs within some companies:
35.4% indicated that hiring of new employees has increased.
32.2% indicate that salaries have increased.
24.8% indicate that overtime has increased.
Conclusion
If you made it to this part of the article, congratulations! As a reward, I would like to present you with the following recipe of how to achieve the highest salary:*
Get your B.S. degree (any type of engineering will do). An advanced degree will improve results.
Select an energy-related industry segment.
Select a large company, preferably one with 10,000 or more employees, and stay there for your entire career.
Get your professional engineering (P.E.) license.
Move into a management position where employees report to you.
Work more than 50 hours per week.
Blend in one spouse.
Add one or two children (optional).
Become a member of a prominent industry organization.
Allow ingredients to intermingle during your career.
*Editor’s note: results may vary depending on elevation.
refer to:http://www.automation.com/factors-that-affect-your-salary-what-you-need-to-know
