According to the U.S. Department of Labor, full-time electronic equipment repairers had a median weekly income of $619 in 1996. This meant that half earned above this amount and half earned less. The top salaries exceeded $979 per week, or more than $50,000 per year.
Median annual salaries in different job categories were as follows:
Telephone installers and repairers: $37,284 electronic repairers, communications and industrial equipment: $31,304 office machine repairers: $30,264
Data processing equipment repairers: $29,796
Beginning wages vary widely depending on the employer, the region of the country, and other factors. Starting wages of $10 to $15 an hour were common in 1998. Some high-tech manufacturers are now offering beginning salaries of $30,000 to $50,000 yearly in specialized areas such as semiconductor manufacturing, according to SEMATECH, a consortium of semiconductor manufacturers.
Engineers working in electronics earn even higher salaries. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, U.S. professionals in electrical, electronic, and computer engineering who were members of this organization had a median income of $72,000 in 1997, with an average salary increase of several percent each year.
It is important to note that wages and salaries vary not only from one type of job to another, but within similar job categories. A number of factors can influence remuneration, including the following:
Educational level: In general, positions requiring a greater level of educational preparation pay higher salaries. An engineer with a bachelor's or master's degree, for instance, usually will earn more than a technician with two years or fewer of postsecondary training.
Location: Workers in large cities tend to make more than those in rural areas, and those in areas with a higher cost of living usually earn higher wages. For example, housing, food, and other fundamentals tend to cost much more in Boston or Los Angeles than in rural Montana or Alabama. Thus workers in all categories, including electronics, usually demand correspondingly higher salaries and wages.
Economic trends: During times of inflation, salaries and wages tend to go up. When the regional or national economy slows down, on the other hand, raises may be smaller or nonexistent for a while.
Skill and experience: An experienced technician or other electronics worker generally earns more than one with little or no experience. This is always the case in union environments, where apprentices or other new workers must strive to achieve journeyman status. Things might not be as extensively formalized in nonunion settings, but here, too, experienced workers tend to earn more.
Job competition: Competition among companies that employ workers in electronics is often a factor in earning potential. For example, if one firm raises its salaries, another employer in the same city may feel compelled to do the same to avoid having workers leave for better paying jobs. On the other hand, a lack of such competition may help keep salaries at a lower-than-average level.
Employer status: A new business that is struggling to establish itself may not be able to pay as well as one that has flourished for years. Similarly, one that hires only union members may have a higher wage scale than a nonunion operation.
Benefits
Along with salaries or wages, most employers provide several types of benefits to their employees. Benefits vary from one company to another and are usually more extensive for full-time employees than for part-timers. In some cases, the total amount paid in benefits can be more than 30 percent of the base salary. This can be a significant factor in making a decision about whether to accept a job offer.
- Typically such benefits include the following:
- health insurance
- retirement funds
- paid sick leave
- paid vacations
- worker's compensation in case of injury
- Social Security benefits
In addition, employees in some companies enjoy the added benefit of participating in profit-sharing programs, where they may own stock in the company or obtain bonuses based on the company's overall performance. Other possible benefits include extra medical coverage (such as dental or optical insurance), life insurance, performance bonuses, and other benefits.
In considering any employment situation, it is important to learn what benefits are available before making a decision to accept the job. The total package of salaries or wages and fringe benefits should be reviewed when considering one job against another, not just earnings alone.
