Why Do Salary Values Decline Somewhat For Some Of The Most Experienced People?
Levels of professional compensation for groups of people usually decline a bit after peaking during the middle years of experience. To some extent, this may be an effect of the composition of the group; some of the most highly paid personnel may take early retirements or may move into other professions, so that they no longer contribute to the results. In other words, compensation for the group declines because it contains fewer of the most highly paid people. Pay for individuals does not decline (assuming they are not downsized or otherwise forced to accept inferior jobs); instead, after many years of experience, the marginal value of further time on the job becomes negligible, and scales tend to become flat. If you are a very mature engineer, this means that comparative data on pay may understate your compensation. To correct for this, try using FEWER years of experience. In IEEE-USA’s 2004 results, income estimates peak at around 30 years of experience. This approach will yield a pe
