A large proportion of Engineers within the Food Manufacturing and Food Machinery sector are not satisfied with the amount they earn. A survey we commissioned in 2016 showed that 40% of Sales Engineers working within the Food Machinery sector were dissatisfied with their Pay.
Generally speaking, with a UK shortage of Engineering skills in many sectors, Engineers find themselves in a strong position to negotiate an improved salary package. However, asking for a pay rise can be difficult and reasons for Engineers keeping quiet over pay include; It can be humiliating or embarrassing to ask; A belief that if the boss thought a pay rise was deserved they would give one; Economic conditions or profitability make it not appropriate to ask; Or they don’t want to be perceived as greedy or only interested in the money.
Some Engineers would rather move jobs every couple of years in order to increase their pay, but surely this is bad for both the employee (burnt bridges etc) and the employer, who bears the cost of recruiting and training a new replacement employee.
FoodEng Recruitment has spent many years working exclusively with Engineering candidates and employers within the Food Manufacturing and Food Machinery industry, and has become an expert at managing the job offer stage and salary negotiations to ensure both parties agree terms and are satisfied with the outcome.
If the candidate and employer can get the job offer ‘right’ when the candidate is initially offered the job, and a development plan with clear objectives can be agreed, a great deal of cost and disruption can be avoided further down the line.
As a recruitment business, you might think we are comfortable with candidate’s changing jobs every year or two, but that’s not true. If a Food business comes to us for assistance and we help them recruit an employee, we want that employee to stay and grow with the company. If the candidate leaves after 6 or 12 months, the employer might not see the recruitment fee as value for money and might be reluctant to use our service again. However, if the employee stays with the business for 3 or 4 years there is a strong likelihood the employer will use us again when they are next looking to recruit someone for a different position.
Because of the above, FoodEng Recruitment provide candidates with information and advice that can be used to negotiate a salary or pay rise in a realistic and professional manner. Salary negotiation is a success when the result leaves both candidate and employer happy with the details of the job offer/package.
We inform Engineering candidates that the onus is on them to be focused and assertive when negotiating salary or a pay rise, as it may be 12 months or longer before they get the opportunity of a further pay review. Although an increase in salary is rarely the principal driver in someones decision to change jobs, it is still an important consideration, which is borne out by the fact that it’s quite rare for an Engineering candidate to switch jobs for less pay (unless a key underlying reason exists).
We work extremely closely with both candidates and employers during the job offer stage and have established that what is required to maximise the opportunity of salary negotiations being a success is information, information and more information!
This information will include: the motivations of the candidate, existing salary structures, policies or restraints the employer is working within, the market rates paid for this type of role by similar Local/National employers, the scarcity or abundance of the Engineering skill-set being recruited for, what elements of the salary package the employer can be flexible on, the culture of the business, the expectations/demands placed on the employee by the employer, the career progression available, the financial health and prospects for the business, and a number of other factors both generic and unique to each salary negotiation.
When all the facts and information is out in the open and readily available to both parties, it is much more likely that the candidate and employer will agree a realistic remuneration package without damaging relations or losing goodwill. FoodEng Recruitment is here to manage the process and ensure a successful outcome is achieved.
