Printed Circuit Design & Fab - December 2007 - (Page 18)

DESIGNER SALARY SURVEY A difference was noted for those designers who indicated that they only worked exclusively on boards that were over seven layers or some specialty products such as BGAs, MCMs and packaging designs. Their average salaries were closer to the $100,000 mark. (FIGURE 4). Strong OEM and Military Involvement The designers who responded were from a wide variety of companies. Tracking with our readership demographics, 64.3% (FIGURE 5) work for OEM companies. The next largest group works for design service bureaus at 12.2%. The markets served by the designers represent a product mix with a higher than expected level of military/government/avionics companies at 20%, as seen in FIGURE 6, compared to a typical market mix that would have the segment at 5% to 6%. Forty percent of the designers who responded worked for either very large companies with over 3,001 employees (20.4%) or very small companies with 1 to 50 employees (19.6%) as shown in FIGURE 7. FIGURE 6. Market segment served. FIGURE 7. Company size. Job Satisfaction Factor One of the key measurements for job satisfaction is overall satisfaction with the career decision and one’s current position. In the case of this year’s respondents, they were generally very satisfied with their jobs. In fact, a whopping 89.1% of the respondents where either very satisfied or satisfied with their career choice as reflected in FIGURE 8. That is a significant approval rating. And 72.1% (FIGURE 9) were satisfied or very satisfied with the current position. The stability in the profession is further reflected in TABLE 1 where 92.2% of the respondents had the same position as they held last year. It is somewhat of a concern that we are facing what appears to be an aging designer population with apparently little influx in young design talent. This is, in fact, quite disconcerting to many industry professionals. In light of the fact that the profession pays well and offers excellent opportunities for DECEMBER 2007 FIGURE 8. Additional benefits offered by employer. Companies recognize the requirement for experiential learning for their designers. OVER 60% OF DESIGNERS INDICATED THAT THEIR COMPANIES SUPPORTED THEIR ATTENDANCE AT TECHNICAL CONFERENCES to attend classes that offer design-specific training. 18 PRINTED CIRCUIT DESIGN & FAB

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Printed Circuit Design & Fab - December 2007

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - December 2007 Contents Our Line Market Watch Around the World Happenings ROI 2007 PCB Designer Salary Survey Interconnect Strategies Positive Plating RF Design Ad Index Noise Reduction Supply Chain DfM Off the Shelf Marketplace The Signal Doctor

Printed Circuit Design & Fab - December 2007

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