I got an email from the Oil & Gas Job Search website today telling me about jobs available for Principal Engineers, and the first one was a contract position in Aberdeen offering £50 - £55 per hour - is this a normal sort of rate for an experienced engineer? Because quite honestly I would be loath to get out of bed for a contract rate like that! What sort of income would a good engineer with 20-30 years experience expect to have in the UK?

Not that I'm thinking of going back - just interested.

400 a day, not bad but not great. Engineering salaries in the UK are not as good as here, hence loads of engineers making the move to Australia, we don't come for the culture, food or beer you know

My salary now is 3.33 times greater than what I earned in the UK 17 months ago. I get paid overtime as well, with that and LAFHA my take home pay is more like 4.5 times greater.

I manage the Oil & Gas business for Hays in Australia. If you can give me some more info (discipline, office or site based, etc), I'll speak to my Aberdeen office and get you an idea on current rates.

If you're interested in some global comparisons, we release a salary guide every year : http://www1.hays.com/oil-and-gas/salaryguide2012.aspx

It's not specific for each role (not enough data) but gives an idea of trends, etc.

If you want any specific info PM me or email me at [email protected]


Thanks

Stuart

In Leeds area, with a degree in an engineering role, I would be looking at around £28k to £38k absolute maximum, as an Engineering Manager, anywhere from £45k to £60k. Down south these would go up, but so would cost of living, and as far as Im concerned, if or when I move south, it won't be a small move.

Like BingoBob said, Engineers are drastically underpaid here..........it's certainly ONE of the factors Im considering emigrating for....

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These levels sound about right for FMCG. Maybe other industries are different, but 50 to 60k is a good guide. Most roles will also have bonus and cars on top, so could be package values of 65-80k.

Things have changed a lot over the last 5/6 years in the UK. I would say ­­55 pound would be a good rate at the moment. When I was in the UK I didn't have a pay rise or bonus in the last 3 years, in fact pay went down due to companies struggling.

Having worked 5 years in the UK as a maritime engineer at a self-processed privileged London Victoria-based firm, my salary history is as follows:-

1st year - 21k
2nd year - 24k
3rd to 5th year - 25k

Money aside, that firm was run by a group of baby-booming supremacists, who took pleasure in undermining others. I made a life-long mistake not to have moved on earlier. With 5 years' experience, I would be able to get up to 35k in another London firm.

My current pay here in Perth is almost that of a SE/PE in the UK. The UK government is held accountable for this immensely, in my opinion. Engineering sectors depend upon government policy. When your government focuses on the service sector, such as finances and consultancies, that is what you get.

How much engineers (or anyone) gets paid is a matter of supply and demand. Currently in Australia there are a considerable number of oil & gas pipeline projects and very few experienced pipeline engineers at Principal level, so pay rates are very good (and have been for some time). Other engineers in industries which aren't doing so well such as manufacturing are unlikely to earn as much as there is an oversupply compared to the demand. But even so £55 (=$82.50) an hour seems low for someone at Principal level.

yeh but a few years ago $55 = 165 an hour. Don't use the exchange rate as a measure, better off comparing what the hourly rate would buy you in each country

I don't think ~£400-450 a day is at all bad in Aberdeen is it?

I am not an engineer but I always thought salaries were quite similar to accounting and this would be ok-ish in London but really quite good in Scotland surely? And of course cannot compare at current exchange rate as bingobob explains.

Engineering wages in Aberdeen are as high if not higher than London due to the oil industry. They must have taken a big hit over the last few years for a top level engineer to be getting that. PDMS designers used to be on 40gbp an hour up there as an example and they don't have half the responsibility or qualifications - don't know what they get nowadays. However the comment about exchange rates distorting things is certainly valid.

I've just signed a new contract with an Independent Oil Co in Aberdeen at £850 / day.
Days rates for engineers with 20 or so years experience are
£750 / day - Low
£850 / day - Real
£1000 / day - Cheeky

850 GBP a day sounds more realistic.

I work for an FMCG company as a tech. Our perm contract engineers are on around £50 - £60 an hour - outside interlopers maybe a bit higher.
Perm project engineers are on £50k + bonuses of upto 15% - 20%