What does it take to get you out of bed in the morning? If you’re an engineer motivated by the number of zeros on your paycheck, don’t feel bad. You’re no shallower than many in your profession.

In a survey of almost 1,600 engineers worldwide, 30 per cent said that earning a good salary was the most important motivating factor. Of all the nationalities questioned, British engineers rated cash incentives most highly. Australian and Canadian engineers are much more likely to be motivated by a good work-life balance, at about 40 per cent, compared with 27 per cent of UK engineers.

The survey, conducted for The Times by EPCglobal, an engineering staffing company, found that those with an eye fixed firmly on their bank account should look to work in the oil and gas sector, where more than half the respondents earned more than £55,000. This compares with 47 per cent in rail; 42 per cent in power and energy; 40 per cent in telecoms; and 33 per cent in civil engineering.

But there are lots of civil engineers working in the rail sector, says Anne Moir, director of communications and marketing at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), commenting on the findings of The Times survey.

In a recent survey of its UK-based membership, ICE found that a civil engineer in his or her twenties could expect to take home £27,900 as an average basic salary. Wages in that discipline increase in line with age – a civil engineer in his or her early fifties could expect to take home £53,000 as an average basic salary.

“It is fair to say that engineering is not the highest-paid profession at the moment but there are lots of interesting projects. Companies are realising that [if] they want to see the best engineers, they have to offer higher wages,” Moir says. According to our survey, a third of UK engineers aged 21 to 25 earn £20,000 to £25,000, while 21 per cent of 26 to 30-year-olds earn between £25,000 and £30,000. By the age of 35, 16 per cent earn between £35,000 and £40,000; and in the 36 to 40 age bracket, a fortunate 11 per cent of UK engineers are taking home £100,000 a year.

Tobias Read, the chief executive of EPCglobal, says that the oil and gas sector has delivered the biggest salary rises in the past ten years. But where will the smart money go in future?

“The next generation should consider seriously power and energy or civil engineering because several large-scale projects will be initiated in the next ten years,” he says. Some 65 oil and gas platforms are planned in the North Sea alone. As in other professions, women are losing out on pay. Internationally across sectors, only 29 per cent of women surveyed earned more than £55,000, compared with 46 per cent of men. And when it comes to earning power, contractors fare better than staff. A presumably happy 36 per cent of contractors earn £70,000 or more compared with 17 per cent of staffers. But permanent staff win hands down on benefits such as pensions and health insurance. Almost two thirds of engineers surveyed aged 26 to 30 had opted for a staff job – and the benefits that come with it.

For those who yearn for the freedom of self-employment, telecoms offers the most opportunities – just. Of those surveyed, 63 per cent who work in telecoms are contractors, as are 62 per cent who work in oil and gas. This compares with 56 per cent in rail and 51 per cent in both civil engineering and power and energy.

Young engineers are the least beguiled by financial gain, according to our survey. Nearly three out of four aged 21 to 25 would take a pay cut in return for a better work-life balance, more benefits, or to jump ship for charity or voluntary work. An angelic 14 per cent of 21 to 30-year-olds would swap pounds and pence to do charity work.

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