The PEGG

October, 2000

Salary Survey Trends Mostly Positive

APEGGA's 2000 Employer Salary Survey points to earnings by geologists and geophysicists generally keeping pace with the current 3.5-per-cent annual rise in the consumer price index (CPI) in Alberta, while figures for engineers suggest a more mixed picture.

Across the board, advances in earnings seemed to outpace declines. The direction and amount of average compensation increases appear positive compared with those reported in last year's Salary Survey.

More detailed results of the 2000 Salary Survey, which are based on responses from 81 employers with a total of 6,925 employees, are published on pages 13-16 of this edition of The PEGG. Additional information will be contained in the Value of Professional Services booklet scheduled to be available in November through APEGGA's Edmonton and Calgary offices. Information also will be posted on the APEGGA website (www.apegga.org).

On an overall industry basis, engineers in all categories showed positive rises in the mean but only at the Member-in-Training level and the advanced specialist levels did those increases exceed the CPI. Two engineering sectors, consulting services and non-durable manufacturing, were characterized by downward trends in mean earnings. The declines were generally more moderate in manufacturing non-durables and one category, project engineer, within that sector showed a rise (6.4 per cent) in mean salary.

The senior specialist geologists was the only category among geologists and geophysicists to register a decline. (It should be noted that the 0.7 per cent decline for senior geologists is based on only 15 reports.)