Really that bad for engineers?

I am coming from engineering field designing consumer electronics products.

Being in this field for 10 years.
i am in my current company for 7 years ,my pay has been just slightly increased over the years although i have been promoted 2 times to manager position now , pay at 65k per annum.

The issue is where is your salary "sit" in the supply chain. Our salary is part of the product cost , and cost is part of the margin. and to increase your margin , u have to produce innovative ideas which will SELL.

If the margin is stagnant. same goes with our pay. And the problem is .. in engineering which produce product , what you do now is to "replace" what you have done 3 years ago. LCD TV replaces color TV .. and colour TV replaces black-white TV .. remember ?
and this process will be speed up in face of fierce competition..

retailer want to quickly dump off old technology product even at low margin price. so.. our product is a commodity.. .. so what do you think we are ?

The rule of the game.. we got to be faster than our competitor.. and we have to be smarter than the engineers in china and india. as our company have access to various place for investment on the planet.

in our field.. when you want to have increment. you need to look at how much innovation u have created which SELL . .. so experience don really count much . you won't get too much difference in pay compare to ppl with less experience .

Compare to other industry.. for example food.. it is not so such "urgency" to change your menu .. to innovate your product.. as comparison . how frequent does KFC change their menu ?

It is also unlike other industry.. where accumulated expertise and experience do make differences. Surgeon .. the more experience u have.. the more comfortable the patient will want ur service. .. and they're willing to pay u .

I know Infineo inside out, they don't pay software engineer 7k, not even entry level manager.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

What is your age?
When you grad from university?

If you are a fresh grad 3 years ago, and after 3 years as of now you are earning 7k/month???
How can that be?
Even those in the oil and gas industry may not be able to hit this salary after 3 years from fresh grad. As an engineer.

Only those investment banking people in may hit this range 7k per month after 3 years.

I am also an engineer, just over 3 years of experience from fresh grad getting around 3.5k only.

Get out of manufacturing.

Originally Posted by ngyi0009

I'm 25 and a fresh engineering graduate with honours from a local university. I just accepted my first job as a production engineer with a manufacturing MNC and will be relocated to China straightaway.

I like engineering because I personally like science and mathematics. Singaporeans who feel constrained by engineering have to leverage on their other advantages. As PM said, China's universities produce many excellent engineering graduates, but Singaporeans have to play the card which highlights their strengths, be it to be able to communicate with both westerners and the chinese, or our management expertise. That's how Singaporeans remain competitive.

At least this is what I believe now. I'm still a noob when it comes to the working world. I hope I'm not wrong and regret my decision in the future.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

i like this statement a lot. Is there a like button or something that i can press.

the statement is bloody true, i like it as well

Engineer in financial industry earning 6K when I left SG...moved to Silicon Valley and now earning 15K as engineer in consumer electronics

THIS is the total rubbish.
Infineon, s/w engineer, 3rd yr, 7K.
Pfffft.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

totally rubbish that Engineer cannot command a good salary. I am in my 3rd year in Infineon as a software Engineer and i am having a comfortable 7k/month. If you are earning only 2 -3k+ then you should check yourself if you are lacking in skills tbh.
I have seen alot of untalented, bad engineers in my field of work and I am not surprised that Engineers on the whole are not well paid in SG. Even the first class honours graduates sometimes look like retarded when it comes to work.

Sorry I did not make myself clear. I am in my 3rd year in Infineon but that does not mean that have only been working for 3 years. I am in my early 40s and I joined Infineon with a starting salary of 6.6k.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Sorry I did not make myself clear. I am in my 3rd year in Infineon but that does not mean that have only been working for 3 years. I am in my early 40s and I joined Infineon with a starting salary of 6.6k.

Does infineon hire a lot of foreigners?

There are alot of engineers from China here.

[curryrice]

Originally Posted by ngyi0009

... As PM said, China's universities produce many excellent engineering graduates, ...

China produces MANY engineers. Not many excellent engineers. Same goes to India.

USA on the other hand produces much fewer engineers than China every year, but their QUALITY is of no doubt.