Earlier this week, Industry Week published their latest salary survey.  As industry goes, so goes the demand for reliability engineering jobs and predictive maintenance professionals.  The survey, which can be found by clicking here paints a mixed picture of the job market and the potential for salary increases.

Some key findings from the study:

• 22% of respondents indicated that their salary actually dropped last year; another 44% reported that their salary was frozen. In the previous years survey, only 4% said their salaries dropped and only 27% said they were frozen.
• Despite compensation concerns, 25% of respondents reported that they were very satisfied with their job and another 45% reporting that they were satisfied.

According to an expert quoted within the survey, this may indicate that employees are generally happy with the total value proposition provided by their job – benefits, salary, flexibility, career path, etc.  Of course, it may also mean that people are just happy to have an job and that once the economy turns, the march for higher salaries will commence again.

In monitoring the salaries posted for the reliability engineering jobs and predictive maintenance jobs on our board, we have noticed that they have remained pretty consistent from our past reviews.  It appears, at least for the time being that salaries have found an equilibrium.  This isn’t to say that reliability engineering professionals wouldn’t like to earn more, its more a reflection that both employers and employees have, at least for the moment found a common ground for value.

What have you seen for salaries and compensation trends?