Salary increases show that companies are willing to pay well for engineers

The median salary for the entire group of engineers was 57,200 SEK last year. Excluding managers and corporate executives, the median salary was 52,400 SEK. Managers and corporate executives had an average salary of 78,100 SEK last year.

"The salary development for engineers during last year was the highest in ten years. It has been easy to change jobs, and companies have been willing to pay well for the engineers' high competence," says Camilla Frankelius, chief negotiator at Sveriges Ingenjörer.

The individual salary increases for engineers in the private sector in 2022 averaged 6.9 percent, which is significantly higher than the 5 percent average during the period from 2013 to 2021. The public sector does not see such high increases; individual salary increases there are at 3.9 percent, which is close to the average during the same period. One in four engineers, 25 percent, in the private sector changed jobs externally or internally within their company last year.

"A job change usually results in a higher salary increase compared to staying in the same position, and is therefore one of the most important explanations for the salaries rising so quickly last year," says Camilla Frankelius, chief negotiator at Sveriges Ingenjörer.

Changing jobs leads to a quick increase in salary in young years. Even experienced engineers receive salary increases that often give the individual more than double the percentage salary increase of those who did not change jobs or employers.

In the youngest age groups, those who changed jobs last year received individual salary increases of 15-16 percent, while those who did not change landed between 7 and 9 percent on average. An engineer in the age group 50-54 who changed jobs in 2022 received an average increase of 8 percent, while those who stayed in the same job received barely 4 percent.

"The job market for engineers is and has been very good during the year, and unemployment is still below 1 percent," says Camilla Frankelius.

Salary statistics from Sveriges Ingenjörer

Median salary for all engineers: 57,200 SEK/month

Median salary excluding managers/corporate executives: 52,400 SEK/month

Median salary for managers/corporate executives: 78,100 SEK/month

Median salary for engineering graduates: 50,700 SEK/month

Median salary for civil engineers: 59,400 SEK/month

About the statistics

This report shows salary increases for identical individuals, meaning individuals who were included in the union's salary statistics for two consecutive years. Approximately 70 percent of those who respond to the salary survey in a given year also responded the previous year. All figures are taken from Sveriges Ingenjörer's salary statistics for the years 2013 to 2022.