There are numerous reasons why engineering graduates have low incomes and here are some of them:
- Financial data at their disposal
The first reason why they have low incomes is that engineering graduate students have a lot of financial data at their disposal when it comes to prioritizing projects. The bean counters at the top don’t like it, but it’s necessary for us to do our jobs. We don’t see everything, but we can rapidly guess what we don’t. We know how much our successes are worth, how much money is available, and who has yet to produce at the end of the year. We know it’s not always accurate when we’re told there’s no money for a bigger bonus or a greater merit raise. Other roles, such as marketing and sales, are also rewarded excessively. Engineering graduate students are data-driven individuals who are not easily deceived. It’s one thing to be underpaid; it’s quite another to have your nose rubbed in.
- Initiative fails
Many initiatives fail, according to Engineering graduate students. Approximately 95% of the time, engineering projects are finished on time, on budget, and fulfill all criteria. When projects go wrong, it’s not because the plant’s engineering graduate students, scientists, or employees failed. It’s because an MBA on the fast track makes a lot of promises but delivers very little.
- Project sponsors
When Mr. or Ms. MBA wants a project sponsored at a firm, they overpromise to secure financing from the board of directors. They all enter the boardroom and start lying. The largest and greatest liar takes the prize. They all seem to be playing the same game. The Engineering graduate students are then expected to cut costs when the project fails to deliver, and they are blamed if they are unable to do so. Because that is how the game is played, Mr. MBA is not held accountable. Mr. or Ms. MBA is eventually dismissed, but not before making the engineer and the rest of tbfxhe plant unhappy.
- Professional comparisons
In comparison to other professions, there are fewer pathways to an equity partnership. I’ve seen some Engineering graduate students establish their businesses, but their parents were rich enough to take the risk. I don’t know many Engineering graduate students fresh out of university that is willing to work for nothing.
- Little opportunity in partnerships
Engineering graduate students are generally hired by huge multinational businesses, with little opportunity to become partners, as in law, dentistry, medicine, or accountancy. As a result, they will never be able to make a fortune.
- An inside job
Engineering is frequently an inside job. Yes, when an engineer performs an outstanding job, their internal brand grows, and they receive a nice pat on the back, a larger bonus, and a speedier promotion. They will eventually reach career level and will not be promoted again unless they take on a management position. Others may think our prices are attractive, but they are little in comparison to the worth of the achievement. When you win large at a legal firm, your reputation and external brand develop rapidly, and your business must pay you a lot more or risk losing some customers. In contrast to other occupations, everyone tends to refer to oneself as an engineer. This is a regular occurrence that devalues our brand [1]. This never happens with physicians, dentists, or attorneys, for example.
- Significant distance
At a factory, there is a significant distance between the engineer and the operator. Dental hygienists do the essential but low-value-added job for dentists. They will be able to see more patients, be more productive, and earn more money as a result of this. Nurses, phlebotomists, nurse practitioners, and other technicians help doctors with the same tasks. Paralegals are employed by lawyers, and the list goes on. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as an engineer’s equivalent. As a result, if an engineer requires assistance, they must rely on an aggressive hit-or-miss operator trying to advance [2].
- Lot of busy work
Throughout the day, Engineers perform a lot of busy work that should be done by someone else. The task will not be completed until they do it themselves. If we want our initiatives to succeed, we’ll have to put in a lot of unpaid overtime.
- Recruiting manager
If the recruiting manager is not an engineer, the old timer without a degree is frequently chosen over the younger degreed engineer. So their starting incomes or salaries will be low, and our brand is further tarnished.
- Pant managers
When someone at their plant is paid more than they are, plant managers can’t tolerate it. I’ve seen a fresh young plant manager oust the career engineer who developed the facility from the ground up over 30 years. This engineer understood more about the plant than anybody else living. Because this delicate plant manager’s ego couldn’t take it any longer, he sent this brilliant engineer. The plant’s performance then plummeted, costing the firm millions of dollars. The Plant Manager was forced to replace him with three new Engineering graduate students who were less capable and more expensive [3]. So, that is why Pant managers is one of the reasons why they will be given a low incomes.
- Experience Differentiation
There will be individuals who are great at what they do, just as there will be those who are below average in any career. There will be individuals with 40+ years of excellent expertise, as well as others with a year’s worth of dubious experience. Assume you’re building a bridge, and one of the workers has years of expertise building significant bridges. Another man offers to construct a bridge, but he just attended a minor college and has no professional expertise. The bridge is expected to cost $5,000,000. If it collapses and kills someone, the legal fees will be millions more. Do you want to recruit the $300,000-per-year executive or the $60,000-per-year executive? When compared to the expense of failure, $300,000 seems like a value [1].
- Experience Level
The last factor of why most of fresh graduates have low incomes is because freshers are low experienced at work and in the practical field. The company cannot trust them at first to provide them with a high salary. They have to work together and build trust within the firm so that they climb to the top and gain high in return but it requires time.
Those were some reasons for the proposal why engineering graduate students have low incomes.
References
[1] G. Bloomfield, “Why do engineering graduates choose non-engineering careers?,” The institute of engineering and technology, 2016.
[2] A. Koncz, “SALARY TRENDS THROUGH SALARY SURVEY: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE ON STARTING SALARIES FOR NEW COLLEGE GRADUATES,” National Association of Colleges and Employers, 2016.
[3] Anonymous, “Why are engineers paid so little,” Qura, 2020.