I THINK MINING

He is about 45, a registered professional engineer and works in the province just west of Saskatchewan.  His annual salary is about $160 K.  Of course there are bonuses and stock options on top of that.

Compare his salary to those of professional engineers and geoscientists in Saskatchewan.  The following numbers come from Issue 120, May/June 2009 of The Professional Edge, a magazine put out by the professional societies in Saskatchewan.  In this issue they report on the APEGS 2009 Salary Survey.  The median salary for professional mining engineers is reported to be $91 K.  Environmental engineers get a median of only $73 K and civil engineers a paltry $78 K. Chemical engineers do best at $91 K.

You salary as a professional engineer or geoscientist in Saskatchewan also depends on whether you can put P.Eng. or P.Geo., or both behind your name.  Those who can claim both designations earn a median of $117 K as compared to a simple P.Eng. who gets only $94 K.  A simple P.Geo. only gets $110 K.   As an engineer I must suspect discrimination or at least an old-geo network?

Of course the longer you have been working, the higher your take-home pay.  If you graduated in 1974 (not that long ago by my reckoning) you earn a median $125 K. Graduate in 1984 and earn a median of $106 K. Similarly 1994 at $95 K; and 2004 at $70 K.  That old issue of age discrimination pops up in that, if you graduated before 1974, your median earning is but $105 K.  And what did they teach those who graduated in 1979?  They get $130 K, the highest of them all. 

There are many fascinating facts in the full suite of numbers.  So get them, take a look, and decide if you want to go to or leave S to work as a P.Eng. or P.Geo.  Maybe just go west young man.