Almost half of UK engineers considering change of job survey reveals

41 per cent of UK engineers are considering a change of job, according to the results of The Engineer’s 2015 salary survey, which has been published in full on The Engineer’s website

Thought to be one of the largest of its kind, the survey - run in partnership with technical recruitment specialist CBS Butler - saw 4,365 engineers from across industry answer questions on everything from salary and benefits to wider levels of job satisfaction as well as their views on pressing industry concerns such as the gender divide and the skills gap.

According to the results, engineers working in the telecomms / utilities and electronics sectors are most likely to want change jobs, with 55 of per cent of respondents telling us that they’re keen to look for opportunities elsewhere whilst those working in the defence & security  / marine sectors are least likely to want to move.

Unsurprisingly there’s a direct correlation between satisfaction and salary, and within the highest paid sectors – oil and gas, energy, defence – satisfaction levels are also at their highest.

However, despite a relatively high proportion of engineers on the active look out for new opportunities and despite the fact that more than half of all engineers feel that they are underpaid, most of them are keen to remain in industry (84 per cent) and more than half say that they are happy in their jobs.

Other key findings include:

More than 50 per cent of UK engineers are happy with their jobs
One third of engineers feel they are underpaid
Engineers in the oil & gas sector earn the highest average salaries
Engineers working in Midlands and East Anglia are the happiest in their jobs
84 per cent of engineers expect to stay in industry for the next five years
Just a third of respondents are professionally registered
23.5 per cent of under thirties qualified via an apprenticeship

First Published in The Engineer (By Jon Excell)