Back in 1979 the average salary for Chartered Electrical Engineers working in the Private Sector in Telecomms R&D and associated areas - in the optimum age ranges of 30 to 45 was on a par with the salary of Members of Parliament - the latest IET salary survey 2019 shows how far behind the profession has fallen - now earning less than a TubeTrain Driver! Why has this been allowed to happen and WHAT HAS THE IET DONE TO ADDRESS THIS DEPLORABLE STATE OF AFFAIRS? Our young people are not going to be attracted to the profession when the rewards are so poor! James Dyson and many F1 racing teams etc still maintain their thriving R&D Centres in the UK - why ? Because UK Engineers are cheaper to employ than any where else in Europe!
I think that you are quite right. The prevailing policy since the 1980s has been to let the 'city' sell off many of our successful companies to enable those in the financial sector to enrich themselves at the expense of the country, in my view. The fate of such comapnies such as GEC, Thorn, Lucas, BICC, Vickers, ARM, GKN are typical of this, I think.
Tom Brown in his book "Tragedy & Challenge: An Inside View of UK Engineering’s Decline and the Challenge of the Brexit Economy" has published an insiders view and states for example ... "compared to the other developed economies considered the decline in UK manufacturing in terms of employment and contribution to GDP has been significantly the most severe, a very regrettable and in my view quite unnecessary situation ..........
..... despite its precipitate decline UK manufacturing is still extremely important – for example 2.6 million employees (massively more than the City), half of all UK exports (increasingly critical for our balance of payments), and 72% of business R&D........
..... In sharp contrast to the UK, during my working life German manufacturing has fared much better......"
As for what should be done about it, it is of course up to us. There is certainly no easy solution.
Many thanks for your prompt, informative and very supportive response to my posting Robert. The most recent UK Engineering Salary Survey 2018, created with the support of CBS Butler, makes very interesting reading. The sample size of just over 2800 for all All UK Engineers, is on the small side (compared with 8077 IEE Members responding to the January 1979 survey) but nevertheless the variations and disparities by geographic region, field of employment by industry and seniority are surprisingly large - but then unlike London Tube Train Drivers and Ministers of Parliament, Professional Engineers have never enjoyed any effective form of collective representation to negotiate salary or terms and conditions of employment. The response of 6 replies and over 1700 views, to the posting in this forum, regarding limitations to the growth of Battery Electric Vehicles by 2030, is a perfect indication that we Engineers care far more about the effective delivery of the technology than the financial reward we receive for delivering it.!
I have nothing against Politicians or Train Drivers - where would we be without them?
