How much you can earn in your profession largely depends on your sector or industry and work experience. What are the wages for different occupations? This week: structural engineers.
The salary of structural engineers can vary widely. That is why the Royal Institute of Engineers (KIVI) does via the trade journal The engineer participate in a periodic investigation to rewards. There are no results yet, but KIVI is collecting indications left and right.
The study of architecture is supported by eleven different colleges offered in the Netherlands. These HBO students then become engineers (ing.).
For a university education in architecture, you can go to the technical universities of Delft and Eindhoven. Graduates receive the title ir.
What will you earn?
There is no collective labor agreement for structural engineers, but the collective labor agreement Construction & Infrastructure. In addition, there is a collective labor agreement for architectural firms which will run until the end of 2023. In this collective labor agreement, the minimum starting salary is €2,450 gross. The salary increases when engineers with a lot of work experience step in as project coordinator. In construction management, the starting salary can be a maximum of 4,760 euros gross per month.
NLengineers, the trade association of consultancy, management and engineering firms, says it cannot provide standard amounts for remuneration. She refers to the director of a smaller agency for more information. This company has a foreign parent company and is not allowed to appoint an independent spokesperson. The director therefore wishes to remain anonymous, but can provide more insight into the salaries.
The subsidiary provides companies and governments with advice on construction works, but also on spatial plans and road and rail infrastructure. “For a well-trained engineer who fits into our team, I assume a starting salary of roughly 3,000 euros gross,” said the director.
How high can the salary be?
The collective labor agreement for architectural firms offers architectural engineers the prospect of a maximum gross monthly salary of 6,150 euros. An additional 10 percent can be added. The monthly salary can therefore rise to almost 6,770 euros.
The highest salaries are highly dependent on experience and specialism, but can easily reach 90,000 euros gross per year. The aforementioned consultancy offers profit-related bonuses that are sometimes as high as several monthly salaries.
“You mainly get enormous satisfaction from the execution of the work.”
Director of consultancy firm
–
–
–
In addition, more than half of the staff – as co-shareholders in the parent company – can add thousands of euros during the current profitable years.
Such profit sharing is very common in this sector. In a poll by the Technical Weekly among 6,500 beta workers, 70 percent of engineers said they would receive a bonus or profit share in 2019.
What must and may you do for that salary?
The working week consists of 32 to 40 hours and can be experienced as quite intensive by the employees. In the said poll, 45 percent of technicians said they had a high workload, compared to 8 percent who experienced a low workload.
The director of the consultancy says about the content of the work as an engineer: “You mainly get enormous satisfaction from the execution of the work. You can use your knowledge and creativity optimally. And you always make discoveries that also make you a better engineer. . Work never becomes standard.”
In addition, the work of engineers is becoming increasingly international, says the director. “We work in a knowledge-sharing network, such as with our parent company, which is active in many places in Europe and sometimes beyond. You can then come up with solutions that fit within the norms and cultures there.”
