As the world continues to shake off the calamitous effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, we see a wireless design-engineering community that’s coming out of its slumber. An important indicator of the industry’s get-up-and-go is attendance at trade shows and conferences. After nearly three years of lockdowns and travel restrictions, some of the recent industry conferences and exhibitions have been trending up.
Consider the recent 2022 edition of electronica: It was the first one in four years, and with 70,000 visitors, it came back strong with only a 14% drop in attendance from its record-setting 2018 event. Anecdotally, it also brought a sense of reawakening, a lot of positive energy, and an enthusiasm among attendees to get caught up on solutions they may have missed during the pandemic.
In parallel with our audience’s revived interest in what’s happening in the industry, we find ourselves with renewed interest in our audience. What’s going on with you? How have you fared personally and professionally, and how do you feel about the future? To that end, the Design Engineering Group at Endeavor Business Media completed its annual survey of its audience on a variety of topics related to their professional lives.
One positive result of the pandemic, at least for electronic design engineers, has been a spike in compensation. A lot of that is because your employers are afraid of losing you and your valuable knowledge and experience. In fact, many of you have significant leverage in terms of salary and bonuses—and your employers know it. In 2020, as the pandemic took root, compensation seemed to take a hit, but that has turned around.
As you can see in the article by James Morra on our 2022 Salary and Career Survey, you’re rather bullish on your expectations for compensation. Some 70% of survey respondents say that their compensation will have risen in 2022. Most also will see bonuses for their efforts this year. With that said, a third of respondents feel they’re inadequately compensated. Yet, the survey reveals enough restlessness among you to keep employers anxious about maintaining their most valuable resource: its design and engineering talent.
Few forces drive society today more so than technology, and in the pantheon of technologies, wireless is king. You are the leaders of that movement, and you know darn well what that leadership is worth. Here’s to a rising tide in 2023, one that will float all boats.
