The typical Chartered Engineer with six to 10 years’ experience receives an income package of circa €70,000 – a salary of €59,000; a bonus of €5,000; and an employer’s pension contribution of 5% – the Engineers Ireland Salary Survey 2023 has revealed.

The survey presents up-to-date information on the salary levels and employment benefits received by engineers employed in the country. The information was collected through an online survey which received more than 1,900 responses from Engineers Ireland members in January-February 2023.

It also revealed that a Chartered Engineer with 16-20 years’ experience, received a salary of, on average, €80,000.

A graduate engineer can expect to earn €36,000, rising to about €66,000 with 11-15 years of experience. Remuneration levels rise more or less consistently with experience and most engineers with more than 30 years’ experience earn more than €100,000.

Younger engineers reported strong increases in salary over the 12 months – more than two-thirds of them (70%) with three to five years’ experience received a pay rise of more than 5%. Achieving promotion to a more senior position, entering management and supervising more staff all typically result in a larger salary.

Pension

The vast majority of engineers receive contributions from their employer to their pension, typically 5% of salary and rising with experience.

Most engineers with more than 30 years of experience receive pension contributions of more than 7.5% of salary. However, 10% of engineers don’t know how much their employer contributes to their pension.

Other benefits

A total of 43% of engineers receive an annual bonus and the median value of the bonus is €5,000, though this is strongly related to experience.

More than half of survey respondents have their Engineers Ireland subscription paid by their employer (€280 for members without a professional title).

Full payment during statutory periods of maternity leave and paternity leave varies by sector; 92% of engineers in public administration are entitled to full pay during maternity leave compared to 51% in consultancy.

Value of professional titles

The value of the professional titles of Chartered Engineer and Fellow is recognised through increased remuneration. A Chartered Engineer can expect to earn about €5,000-€10,000 per year more than an untitled engineer with the same number of years of experience.

While the typical untitled engineer with six to 10 years’ experience earns €52,000, a Chartered Engineer who graduates in the same year typically earns €59,000. It takes more than 25 years of experience before this salary gap closes. At this point, Chartered Engineers who become Fellows of Engineers Ireland can expect to earn an additional €10,000 per year.

Meanwhile, a manager with 16-20 years’ experience receives a salary of about €85,000. An engineer with 30+ years’ experience and supervising 20-plus staff earns about €115,000.

A mechanical engineer with 11-15 years’ experience earns €74,420, while an engineer with one to two years’ experience and working in the manufacturing sector is on a salary of €40,150. An engineer with 16-20 years’ experience and working in Dublin received about €78,620.

In terms of median salary between female and male engineers with three to five years’ experience, the survey revealed a difference of 11%. The typical pension contribution by an employer is 5%, while the median annual bonus is €5,000.