Although engineers remain in high demand, new Seek data reveals the average advertised engineering salary is lower than it was five years ago. 

According to Seek, the average advertised salary for engineering roles was $116,108 in the 12 months to 30 June 2018, which was 6.91% lower than five years ago ($146,596).

That means engineering roles in Australia have seen one of the greatest advertised salary decreases, second only to mining, resources and energy (-13.96%).

Kendra Banks, Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, describes the trend as “disappointing”, but outlined the continued strength of the sector's advertised jobs, with the number of civil engineering jobs advertised increasing by 6% from June 2017 to June 2018. 

“Jobs ads in construction-related sectors continue to perform strongly, with trades a services (+23%), engineering (+19%) and manufacturing, transport and logistics (+16%) all recording strong increases for the three months to June compared to the year prior,” she says. 

“New South Wales is the only state not to see an increase in engineering roles. In contrast, engineering in Queensland was one of the main contributors to the state’s 8.8% total job ad growth.”