A focus for manufacturing organisations reviewing their expenditure in this climate has become remuneration, not to downplay these salary bands, but to establish their selection criteria against market expectations for high performing human assets.

As this activity isn’t isolated to periods of downturn, and that it is important for organisations to conduct periodic market reviews, it is heartening that manufacturers are taking the opporutnity to recognise that their technical staff should be valued, based on performance, experience, competence and, let’s face it, rarity.

Many organisations will find that graduates in technical fields are fewer, and that as a consequence replacing their technical resources in time is going to be that much more difficult.  It is expected that the trend toward rewarding loyalty with salary will continue until these roles become monetarily attractive to perspective students of the field, and this is likely to take a while for the industry to catch up and outstrip other professions requiring a thorough grounding in science fundamentals.

So, for those in the rare position of holding degrees in science and particularly those from the ’old-fashioned’ branches: Maths, Chemistry, Physics and combinations thereof, consider yourselves in the box seat for the first time in nearly a century.