Friday, June 06, 2008 Passage of law helps RP address need for mechanical engineers
WITH the implementation of the Philippine Mechanical Engineering Act, leaders of a national mechanical engineering group said that it allowed the industry to grow in “leaps and bounds.”
“We have been addressing the demand side,” said Vicente Vosotros, immediate past president of the Philippine Society for Mechanical Engineers’ (PSME) national group, during a press conference Tuesday.
The group is slated to have its mid-year convention this month.
Also known as Republic Act 8495, the law provides that all establishments should employ a competent mechanical engineer
(ME) to handle the mechanical equipment of the company.
At present, labor laws require a company to have one ME present for every shift to handle equipment with a combined total capacity of 2000 kilowatts.
Vosotros added that the demand for MEs is not only limited in the country but there is a need for them in other countries as well, particularly in Singapore, Malaysia and the Middle East.
He also said that MEs in the country are also receiving competitive compensation. There is only a minimal difference from what engineers abroad are getting.
Salary rates
For an entry level position, MEs earn between P10,000 and P15,000. In multi-national companies, Vosotros said there are already MEs receiving as much as P50,000 a month.
Professional MEs or those who have several years of experience in the industry can earn an average of P100,000 to P150,000 monthly, Vosotros added.
There are already 80,000 registered MEs in the country while only 3,000 to 4,000 MEs are the ones who are categorized under the professional level, said Albert Nuñez, president of the Cebu chapter.
Nuñez added that MEs who are practicing outside the country account for 10 percent of those registered.
School curriculum
Aside from the implementation of RA 8495, PSME is also working with the Professional Regulation Commission and the Board of Mechanical Engineers in inspecting schools that offer mechanical engineering courses to make sure that the teachers of ME professional subjects are experienced engineers.
PSME agrees, though, that the present academic curriculum on mechanical engineering is not sufficient to equip a fresh graduate in entering the labor force.
“But engineering schools are doing their share of improving the curriculum,” Nuñez said.
Vosotros also added that in Cebu, there is no engineering school that has a passing rate lower than 50 percent in the ME licensure examination.
“Topnotchers (also) come from Cebu,” he said.
PSME will continue to work for the upliftment of the industry as its local chapters continue to monitor the competence of the engineers.
As part of its advocacy, PSME only allows an ME to renew his license, which is done every three years, upon obtaining a certificate of good standing from the organization’s local chapter, said Vosotros. (DME)
