the 2007 sfpe employment survey - final

8/8/2019 The 2007 Sfpe Employment Survey - Final

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2007 Profile of the Fire Protection EngineerSociety of Fire Protection Engineers

Fire Protection Engineering salaries continue to climb.The median USA compensation is now $98,200. Havinga P.E. commands an average 20% salary premium.

The Society of Fire Protection Engineers has surveyedthe fire protection industry (SFPE members and non-members) about different aspects of their education andemployment since 1976. In the summer of 2007, SFPEconducted its fourteenth survey. Over 1,800 peopleresponded from 51 countries. Table 1 shows theresponses for the top nine responding countries. Theremaining countries had five or fewer responses (18 with

one response each). Given the low number of responsesfrom most countries, the majority of the analysis coversonly the USA to ensure statistical relevance. Data fromother countries are discussed on pages 3 and 4.

As with previous surveys, a link from the SFPE web sitetook members and others to a questionnaire that askedabout education, service time, age,gender, employment role, totalcompensation, and benefits. Atotal of 1821 people responded,of which 1736 (95.3%) were

full-time salaried employees;50 (2.7%) were part-timeemployees, 26 (1.4%) wereretired, and 4 (0.2%) wereunemployed in 2006. Five(0.3%) declined to respond tothe employment status question.

The 2007 SFPE Employment & Salary Survey resultsshow modest growth in compensation over the past twoyears. According to the responses, people in the fireprotection industry experienced single digit growth inboth salary and total compensation (salary plus incentivepay) since the previous SFPE survey in 2005. Based ondata from respondents who provided base salary andincentive compensation figures (bonuses, overtime,commission, etc), the median annual salary is $90,000and the median total compensation is $98,200. This is a5.9% and 6.7% growth from 2005 for salary and totalcompensation respectively. [Note, these figures are foronly the USA respondents, other countries are discussedlater in the report.] This increase is slightly below therate of inflation in the USA, which the Consumer PriceIndex reported as 7.1 % for the same two year period.1

As with previous SFPE surveys, the respondents are weleducated 4% have doctorates, 28% have mastersdegrees, 57% hold a bachelors degrees, 5% hold anassociates degree, and only 6% have no post secondary

education. Furthermore, 44% hold a professionalengineers (P.E.) license. As for age and gender, therespondents are nearly all male (91%) and have a medianage of 46.

Table 2 gives the median2 base salaries by years of workexperience (practicing engineering). The correlation

Country Total

United States of America 1517 83.3%

Canada 69 3.8%

United Kingdom 35 1.9%

Australia 22 1.2%

New Zealand 20 1.1%

Saudi Arabia 14 0.8%

China 11 0.6%

Sweden 11 0.6%

China Hong Kong SAR 8 0.4%

Table 1 - Responses by Country

Experience

Number of

Respondents 1st Decile 1st Quartile Median 3rd Quartile 9th Decil

Less than 6 years 166 $42,000 $51,000 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000

6 - 10 years 195 $58,000 $66,000 $75,000 $85,000 $100,00

11 to 15 years 166 $62,000 $73,000 $88,000 $101,000 $120,00

16 to 20 years 188 $69,000 $83,000 $98,000 $109,000 $125,00

21 to 25 years 199 $68,000 $82,000 $94,000 $107,000 $130,00

26 to 30 years 207 $72,000 $87,000 $102,000 $120,000 $146,00

31 - 35 years 176 $74,000 $90,000 $103,000 $125,000 $150,00

More than 35 years 107 $65,000 $81,000 $100,000 $128,000 $160,00

Table 2: Base Salary vs. Years of Work Experience

[Data from USA respondents working full time that chose to submit compensation information]


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between salary and workexperience is statisticallyinsignificant (R2 = .07). Thisindicates there are many otherfactors that are drivingcompensation (role, responsibility,

industry, education, performance,geography, etc.).

Table 3 gives the median totalcompensation (salary plusincentive pay) by years of workexperience in engineering. Thestatistical correlation betweensalary / total compensation andwork experience is alsoinsignificant (R2 = .08). As withTable 2, this indicates that other

factors are significant indetermining total compensation.As with salary, there is a steadyincrease in total compensationwith years of experience.

Table 4 gives the median totalcompensation (salary andincentive compensation) byhighest education level of therespondent. There is a trend upuntil reaching Ph.D., but the

overall relationship is notstatistically significant.

The analysis outlined in Table 2split the data into five yearsegments for work experience inengineering. To address thequestion of early careercompensation (0-5 years workexperience), Table 5 givesmedian salaries (no incentivecompensation included) for the

data from respondents with fiveor less years of work experience.This analysis suggests a medianstarting salary of $53,000 for theUSA respondents, versus $49,000in 2005.

Table 6 gives the median total compensation (salary andincentive pay) by years of work experience for the same

segments as in Table 5. As with Table 3, there is ageneral rise in total compensation vs. work experience,but the relationship is not statistically significant. Thedata suggest a median starting total compensation of$55,000.

Experience

Number of

Respondents 1st Decile 1st Quartile Median 3rd Quartile 9th Decile

Less than 6 years 166 $48,000 $54,000 $63,000 $78,000 $90,000

6 - 10 years 195 $62,000 $72,000 $83,000 $95,000 $114,000

11 to 15 years 166 $66,000 $80,000 $98,000 $120,000 $150,00016 to 20 years 188 $75,000 $90,000 $108,000 $126,000 $150,000

21 to 25 years 199 $74,000 $90,000 $101,000 $125,000 $155,000

26 to 30 years 207 $78,000 $95,000 $113,000 $134,000 $179,000

31 - 35 years 176 $75,000 $95,000 $116,000 $145,000 $200,000

More than 35 years 107 $70,000 $94,000 $117,000 $150,000 $185,000

Table 3: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) vs. Years of Work Experience


Experience

Number of


No Post Sec. Edu 79 $52,000 $74,000 $85,000 $118,000 $150,000

Associate 63 $48,000 $65,000 $90,000 $110,000 $155,000

Bachelor 857 $62,000 $78,000 $98,000 $122,000 $150,000

Master 377 $68,000 $84,000 $104,000 $130,000 $160,000

Ph.D. 36 $67,000 $90,000 $98,000 $130,000 $150,000

Table 4: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) vs. Highest Education


Experience

Number of


0-1 year 32 $40,000 $48,000 $53,000 $60,000 $84,000

1.5 - 2 years 24 $34,500 $43,000 $55,000 $60,000 $67,500

2.5 - 3 years 32 $42,500 $50,000 $58,000 $66,500 $74,000

3.5 - 4 years 44 $44,000 $51,500 $60,000 $67,000 $74,000

5 years 34 $52,500 $61,000 $70,000 $77,500 $86,000

Table 5: Base Salary vs. Years of Work Experience


Experience

Number of


0-1 year 32 $45,500 $52,000 $55,000 $63,000 $90,000

1.5 - 2 years 24 $40,000 $43,000 $58,000 $63,000 $67,000

2.5 - 3 years 32 $45,000 $54,000 $60,000 $72,000 $74,000

3.5 - 4 years 44 $50,000 $55,500 $66,000 $74,000 $78,5005 years 34 $55,500 $55,500 $79,500 $86,000 $92,000

Table 6: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) vs. Years of Work Experience



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The USA compensation analysisin the previous tables reflectsthe reported work experience infire protection engineering.Another way to view this data isby age of the person. The

summary of this analysis is inTable 7. As with Table 3, thereis an upward trend in totalcompensation versus age. Thisis expected. The median climbsrapidly, plateaus at 41-45, andthen drops after 61. This isconsistent with othercompensation studiesoutside of the SFPE.

The analysis up to thispoint considers only datafrom full-time employeesin the USA. Table 8shows a similar analysisfor nine countries that hadmore than sevenresponses. Given the lowresponse totals forcountries outside of theUSA, Canada, and the UK,it is not statistically valid

to report the deciles or insome cases the quartilesas a few responders canskew the median in smallpopulations.

The survey askedrespondents to report theirsupervisory status. Worldwide, 46% have nosupervisory

responsibilities,49% supervise engineersor technical staff, and 5% supervise non technical staff.Table 9 shows the median total compensation bysupervisory role in the USA. The highest compensationis for those supervising engineering and technical staff.

The following four tables show the analysis of the datain finer detail. Table 10 (next page) displays the totalcompensation of the USA respondents who have aBachelor degree as their highest education vs. years ofwork experience practicing engineering. As with otherviews of the data, there is a general positive trend oftotal compensation vs. years of work experience.

Age

Number of


25 or less 39 $45,500 $52,000 $55,000 $59,500 $67,000

26-30 147 $53,000 $62,000 $73,500 $83,000 $95,000

31-35 151 $55,000 $70,000 $85,000 $102,500 $130,000

36-40 162 $69,000 $82,000 $95,000 $122,000 $150,000

41-45 210 $70,000 $90,000 $106,000 $125,000 $150,000

46-50 197 $75,000 $89,000 $104,000 $130,000 $172,500

51-55 219 $73,000 $89,000 $109,000 $135,000 $160,000

56-60 186 $74,000 $94,500 $115,000 $145,500 $184,500

61-65 65 $75,500 $90,000 $108,000 $144,000 $175,000

66-70 27 $45,000 $65,000 $100,000 $132,000 $185,000

Table 7: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) vs. Age


Experience

Number of


USA 1412 $62,500 $78,000 $98,000 $125,000 $143,000

Canada 64 $64,500 $80,000 $95,000 $110,000 $123,000

UK 29 $66,000 $81,000 $99,000 $130,000 $152,500

Australia 19 ---- $69,500 $93,000 $112,000 ----

New Zeland 17 ---- $53,500 $71,000 $83,000 ----

Saudi Arabia 12 ---- ---- $17,000 ---- ----

Sweden 11 ---- ---- $73,500 ---- ----

China 9 ---- ---- $82,000 ---- ----China Hong Kong SAR 8 ---- ---- $63,000 ---- ----

Table 8: Total Compensation vs. Country

[Data from all respondents working full time that chose to submit compensation data. Decile / Quartile /

Median values were not calculated for low respondent count]

Experience

Number of


Supv. - Engr. / Tech. 662 $72,000 $87,000 $110,000 $136,000 $175,000

Supv. - Non Tech. 68 $60,000 $72,000 $84,000 $120,000 $156,000

Non Supv. 679 $52,000 $66,500 $84,000 $100,000 $116,000

Table 9: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) vs. Role



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There is a similar trend forrespondents that have achieved aMasters degree. Table 11 is asummation of the analysis of totalcompensation vs. years of

engineering work experience forthose with Masters degrees. Aswould be expected when reviewingthe data in Table 4, the totalcompensation for those with Masterdegrees is generally higher forcomparable work experience.

The data was further analyzed bylooking at the respondents role.This analysis takes a deeper lookinto the data used to develop Table

9. For non-supervisory respondents,the total compensation vs. years ofengineering work experience isoutlined in Table 12. As expected,there is a general trend of greatertotal compensation with increasedyears of work experience.

Table 13 shows the data analyzedfor supervisors of engineers vs.work experience. The general trendof increasing total compensation vs.

work experience is also present. Asexpected when looking at Table 9,there is a higher total compensationfor supervisors than non-supervisors.

The data shows that being aProfessional Engineer (P.E. or P.Eng.) has compensation benefits.Table 14 (nextpage) shows thesummary of total compensationversus being a ProfessionalEngineer or not. There is a 20%

premium for the median salary. Themedian age for the P.E. populationis 45 while the median age for nonP.E.s is 46. This would show thatthe premium is not attributed to theincreased work experience neededto obtain a P.E. (with the associatedincrease in work experience andsalary). Thus, it pays to be a P.E!

Experience

Number of


Less than 6 years 94 $47,000 $52,500 $59,000 $71,000 $84,000

6 - 10 years 103 $60,000 $70,000 $80,000 $88,000 $108,000

11 to 15 years 90 $63,000 $75,000 $90,000 $110,000 $146,000

16 to 20 years 114 $75,000 $85,000 $104,000 $121,000 $143,000

21 to 25 years 124 $78,000 $91,000 $103,000 $125,000 $150,000

26 to 30 years 147 $82,000 $95,500 $110,000 $134,000 $165,000

31 - 35 years 117 $75,000 $95,500 $115,000 $143,000 $168,000

More than 35 years 65 $74,000 $91,000 $110,000 $140,000 $189,000

Table 10: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) for Bachelor Degree vs. Work Experience


Experience

Number of


Less than 6 years 52 $58,100 $63,000 $70,000 $82,000 $103,000

6 - 10 years 70 $63,200 $77,000 $87,000 $102,000 $120,000

11 to 15 years 60 $72,000 $88,000 $105,000 $129,500 $150,000

16 to 20 years 47 --- $104,000 $116,000 $130,000 ---

21 to 25 years 47 --- $89,000 $105,000 $127,000 ---

26 to 30 years 34 --- $108,000 $125,000 $160,000 ---

31 - 35 years 41 --- $99,000 $126,000 $153,000 ---

More than 35 years 25 --- --- $130,000 --- ---

Table 11: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) for Masters Degree vs. Work Experience


Experience

Number of


Less than 6 years 125 $45,250 $54,000 $60,200 $74,000 $89,7006 - 10 years 88 $54,100 $69,000 $77,000 $86,500 $97,500

11 to 15 years 67 $62,500 $74,800 $89,000 $100,700 $128,000

16 to 20 years 82 $73,000 $85,000 $101,000 $121,000 $144,900

21 to 25 years 95 $73,500 $89,300 $97,300 $118,300 $146,300

26 to 30 years 91 $70,000 $85,800 $101,300 $123,000 $137,900

31 - 35 years 81 $74,600 $92,700 $102,000 $118,800 $145,000

More than 35 years 46 $55,000 $80,000 $110,000 $144,500 $167,500

Table 12: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) for Non Supv. vs. Work Experience


Experience

Number of


Less than 6 years 25 --- $52,000 $71,000 $81,200 ---

6 - 10 years 92 $65,500 $78,000 $89,700 $105,000 $122,000

11 to 15 years 89 $65,500 $84,000 $105,500 $130,000 $170,000

16 to 20 years 102 $78,000 $93,250 $113,000 $130,000 $150,000

21 to 25 years 98 $74,000 $89,800 $109,000 $133,500 $160,000

26 to 30 years 109 $88,600 $104,000 $120,000 $150,000 $190,000

31 - 35 years 87 $81,500 $99,000 $132,700 $156,000 $250,000

More than 35 years 58 $85,000 $100,000 $122,000 $157,200 $250,000

Table 13: Total Compensation (Salary & Incentive) for Engr. Supervisors vs. Work Experience



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Incentive Compensation

Of the total respondents, 75%received incentive compensationin 2006 vs. 62% in 2004.Incentive compensation includes

bonuses, commissions, andovertime pay. Of these, thepercent of salary that was variable ranged from theminimum of

the 2007 sfpe employment survey - final

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