The gender pay gap for engineers in Ireland fluctuates depending on experience, according to the 2025 Salary Report from Engineers Ireland.

The study found that the gap in the median salaries for engineers with 1-2 years' experience is 3% in favour of men and rises to 10% among engineers with 3-5 years' experience.

Newly qualified males engineers can expect to earn €39,000 on average, or €1,000 more than their female counterparts (€38,000), but the difference grows to €5,000 among male (€50,000) and female (€45,000) engineers with 3-5 years' under their belts.

The number of men who answered the survey (1,408) was more than six times the number of women (228), and gender imbalance was greatest at nine-fold among respondents with more than 30 years' experience, with 245 men and 27 women responding.

The gender pay gap was widest among engineers with 6-10 years' experience (13%) and lowest at 3% among engineers with 1-2, 16-20 or more than 30 years' experience.

Male engineers with 30 years' experience earned a median salary of €110,000 compared to €107,000 for women, but such experienced professionals can earn up to €120,000.

The barometer study found the profession remains a very lucrative career choice with salaries increasing steadily as engineers advance in their career, and more so if they attain further professional qualifications.

Graduate engineers can up to €44,000, which is less than €5,000 below the average industrial wage, and 51% of engineers with three to five years' experienced said they had received a raise of more than 10%.

Take-home pay for mechanical engineers with 6-10 years' experience was €66,000, higher than civil, electrical or energy engineers.

For mid-level engineers, however, the energy sector offers the highest salaries. An engineer with over 10 years’ experience can expect to be paid €78,000, as compared to €71,000 for civil engineering.

Earning a professional title, such as Chartered Engineer or Fellow, is another route to higher pay for engineers. The pay gap between engineer and chartered engineer varies from €7,000 to €22,000, depending on the career stage.

Engineers Ireland awards registered professional titles such as Chartered Engineer and Fellow, recognising the competence, continuing professional development and leadership of its members.

Around 45% of engineers receive an annual bonus, and the median value of the bonus is €5,000. Other benefits provided included education, training or CPD; health insurance, company car, share purchase options, annual dividends, and overtime.

The vast majority of engineers also received pension contributions from their employer, valued typically at 5% of the salary.

A Chartered Engineer with six to 10 years' experience typically receives a €62,000 salary with a €5,000 annual bonus and a 5% pension contributions.

The proportion of women who receive full maternity pay for at least 26 weeks varies from 36% in construction and 50% in consultancy to 67% in manufacturing, 69% in public administration, and 81% in utilities.

At least half of employers in all parts of engineers offer fully paid paternity leave for two weeks, rising from 51% in manufacturing to 54% in construction, 55% in consultancy, 73% in utilities and 78% in public administration.

The report is based on an online survey of Engineers Ireland members that received 1,643 responses in January.

(Pic: Getty Images)