A person working as Research Engineer in Zambia typically earns around 4,630 ZMK. Salaries range from 2,220 ZMK (lowest) to 7,270 ZMK (highest).
This is the average salary including housing, transport, and other benefits. Research Engineer salaries in Zambia vary drastically based on experience, skills, gender, or location. Below you will find a detailed breakdown based on many different criteria.
Minimum Salary 2,220 ZMK |
Median 4,360 ZMK |
Maximum 7,270 ZMK |
Salaries for the position Research Engineer in Zambia range from 2,220 ZMK (starting salary) to 7,270 ZMK (maximum salary). It should be noted that the given figure is not the legally mandated minimum wage; rather, it represents the lowest figure reported in a salary survey that included thousands of participants and professionals from all regions of the country.
With a median salary of 4,360 ZMK, half of the professionals who work as Research Engineer in Zambia earn less than this amount, and the other half earn more. The median salary denotes the middle value of salaries. Ideally, you would want to belong to the group earning more than the median salary, located on the right side of the salary distribution graph.
The median is closely associated with two other values known as the 25th and 75th percentiles. By examining the salary distribution chart, it can be determined that 25% of professionals employed as Research Engineer in Zambia earn less than 3,550 ZMK, while 75% earn more. Similarly, the chart shows that 75% earn less than 5,000 ZMK while 25% earn more.
To provide a better understanding of expected salaries, we categorized the frequently occurring salaries into different ranges. This approach provides a more precise representation of salary distribution for the job title Research Engineer in Zambia compared to simply calculating the average. The majority of reported salaries, approximately 65%, fall within the range of 2,680 ZMK to 3,810 ZMK. About 20% of salaries are below the 2,680 ZMK mark, while 10% fall within the range of 3,810 ZMK to 4,330 ZMK. Only 5% of individuals have salaries exceeding 4,330 ZMK.
0 - 2 Years | 2,600 ZMK | |
2 - 5 Years | +42% | 3,690 ZMK |
5 - 10 Years | +31% | 4,850 ZMK |
10 - 15 Years | +23% | 5,960 ZMK |
15 - 20 Years | +6% | 6,340 ZMK |
20+ Years | +10% | 6,950 ZMK |
The experience level is the most important factor in determining the salary. Naturally, the more years of experience the higher the wage. We broke down salaries by experience level for people working as Research Engineer and this is what we found.
Employees with less than two years of experience earn approximately 2,600 ZMK.
While someone with an experience level between two and five years is expected to earn 3,690 ZMK, 42% more than someone with less than two year's experience.
Moving forward, an experience level between five and ten years lands a salary of 4,850 ZMK, 31% more than someone with two to five years of experience.
Additionally, professionals whose expertise span anywhere between ten and fifteen years get a salary equivalent to 5,960 ZMK, 23% more than someone with five to ten years of experience.
If the experience level is between fifteen and twenty years, then the expected wage is 6,340 ZMK, 6% more than someone with ten to fifteen years of experience.
Lastly, employees with more than twenty years of professional experience get a salary of 6,950 ZMK, 10% more than people with fifteen to twenty years of experience.
Certificate or Diploma | 3,230 ZMK | |
Bachelor's Degree | +59% | 5,150 ZMK |
Master's Degree | +33% | 6,870 ZMK |
We all know that higher education equals a bigger salary, but how much more money can a degree add to your income? We broke down salaries by education level for the position Research Engineer in order to make a comparison.
Employees at this education level have an average salary of 3,230 ZMK.
At this level, the average salary becomes 5,150 ZMK, 59% more than the previous level.
At this level, the average salary becomes 6,870 ZMK, 33% more than the previous level.
A Master's degree program or any post-graduate program in Zambia costs anywhere from 30,100 ZMK to 90,300 ZMK and lasts approximately two years. That is quite an investment.
You can't really expect any salary increases during the study period, assuming you already have a job. In most cases, a salary review is conducted once education is completed and the degree has been attained.
Many people pursue higher education as a tactic to switch to a higher-paying job. The numbers seem to support the theory. The average increase in compensation while changing jobs is approximately 10% more than the customary salary increment.
If you can afford the costs of higher education, the return on investment is definitely worth it. You should be able to recover the costs in roughly a year or so.
Though gender should not have an effect on pay, in reality, it does. So who gets paid more: men or women? For the people who work as Research Engineer in Zambia, the average difference between the salary of male and female employees is 8%.
Male | 4,870 ZMK | |
Female | -7% | 4,510 ZMK |
Individuals working as Research Engineer in Zambia are likely to observe a salary increase of approximately 9% every 26 months. The national average annual increment for all professions combined is 5% granted to employees every 28 months.
The term Annual Salary Increase usually refers to the increase in 12 calendar month period, but because it is rare that people get their salaries reviewed exactly on the one-year mark, it is more meaningful to know the frequency and the rate at the time of the increase.
The annual salary Increase in a calendar year (12 months) can be easily calculated as follows: Annual Salary Increase = Increase Rate x 12 / Increase Frequency
Not all compensation increases are reflected directly in the salary. Some companies offer upgraded packages to their staff instead of cash money. The figures displayed here account only for direct increments to the base salary.
61% of surveyed staff reported that they haven't received any bonuses or incentives in the previous year while 39% said that they received at least one form of monetary bonus.
Those who got bonuses reported rates ranging from 3% to 6% of their annual salary.
Received Bonus | 39% | |
No Bonus | 61% |
The most standard form of bonus, where the employee is awarded based on their exceptional performance.
Company Performance BonusesOccasionally, some companies like to celebrate excess earnings and profits with their staff collectively in the form of bonuses that are granted to everyone. The amount of the bonus will probably be different from person to person depending on their role within the organization.
Goal-Based BonusesGranted upon achieving an important goal or milestone.
Holiday / End of Year BonusesThese types of bonuses are given without a reason and usually resemble an appreciation token.
People tend to confuse bonuses with commissions. A commission is a prefixed rate at which someone gets paid for items sold or deals completed while a bonus is in most cases arbitrary and unplanned.
The main two types of jobs | |
Revenue Generators | Supporting Cast |
Employees that are directly involved in generating revenue or profit for the organization. Their field of expertise usually matches the type of business. | Employees that support and facilitate the work of revenue generators. Their expertise is usually different from that of the core business operations. |
Example: | Example: |
Revenue generators usually get more and higher bonuses, higher salaries, and more frequent salary increments. The reason is quite simple: it is easier to quantify your value to the company in monetary terms when you participate in revenue generation.
Top management personnel and senior employees naturally exhibit higher bonus rates and frequencies than juniors. This is very predictable due to the inherent responsibilities of being higher in the hierarchy. People in top positions can easily get double or triple bonus rates than employees down the pyramid.
The hourly wage is the salary paid in one worked hour. Usually, jobs are classified into two categories: salaried jobs and hourly jobs. Salaried jobs pay a fixed amount regardless of the hours worked. Hourly jobs pay per worked hour. To convert salary into hourly wage the above formula is used (assuming 5 working days in a week and 8 working hours per day which is the standard for most jobs). The hourly wage calculation may differ slightly depending on the worked hours per week and the annual vacation allowance. The figures mentioned above are good approximations and are considered to be the standard. One major difference between salaried employees and hourly paid employees is overtime eligibility. Salaried employees are usually exempt from overtime as opposed to hourly paid staff.
The minimum pay rate per hour for people working as Research Engineer in Zambia is 13 ZMK. This is the minimum as per the gathered data in the salary survey not the minimum hourly rate mandated by law.
Job Title | Average Salary |
Business Planning | -100% | |
Agile Coach | 6,740 ZMK | +45% |
Assistant Business Development Manager | 7,830 ZMK | +69% |
Assistant Merchandise Planner | 4,760 ZMK | +3% |
Business Advisor | 7,640 ZMK | +65% |
Business Analyst | 7,110 ZMK | +53% |
Business Consultant | 7,230 ZMK | +56% |
Business Continuity Associate | 4,580 ZMK | -1% |
Business Developer | 4,850 ZMK | +5% |
Business Development Analyst | 5,360 ZMK | +16% |
Business Development Associate | 3,920 ZMK | -15% |
Business Development Coordinator | 4,090 ZMK | -12% |
Business Development Director | 10,900 ZMK | +140% |
Business Development Engineer | 5,710 ZMK | +23% |
Business Development Executive | 7,790 ZMK | +68% |
Business Development Manager | 9,530 ZMK | +110% |
Business Development Specialist | 7,230 ZMK | +56% |
Business Manager | 8,500 ZMK | +83% |
Business Operations Specialist | 7,250 ZMK | +56% |
Business Process Writer | 4,420 ZMK | -5% |
Business Systems Analyst | 7,660 ZMK | +65% |
Capacity Planner | 5,110 ZMK | +10% |
Capacity Planning Supervisor | 7,120 ZMK | +54% |
Change Communications Analyst | 7,150 ZMK | +54% |
Change Control Analyst | 6,910 ZMK | +49% |
Change Impact Analyst | 7,280 ZMK | +57% |
Chief Automation Officer | 8,790 ZMK | +90% |
Chief Innovation Officer | 9,700 ZMK | +110% |
Contracts Executive | 7,460 ZMK | +61% |
Corporate Strategy Analyst | 7,610 ZMK | +64% |
Cost Control Engineer | 4,780 ZMK | +3% |
Cost Controller | 5,640 ZMK | +22% |
Cost Estimator | 5,050 ZMK | +9% |
Crisis Management Specialist | 7,960 ZMK | +72% |
Data Executive | 3,960 ZMK | -15% |
Data Manager | 5,560 ZMK | +20% |
Data Processing Manager | 6,620 ZMK | +43% |
Development Researcher | 5,680 ZMK | +23% |
Digital Strategist | 7,650 ZMK | +65% |
Digital Transformation Manager | 7,900 ZMK | +71% |
Director of Business Development | 10,900 ZMK | +140% |
Director of Production Planning | 9,310 ZMK | +100% |
Drop Shipping Consultant | 6,590 ZMK | +42% |
Due Diligence Analyst | 7,990 ZMK | +72% |
Estimating Manager | 7,720 ZMK | +67% |
General Manager | 9,160 ZMK | +98% |
Growth Hacker | 5,720 ZMK | +23% |
Impact Assessment Specialist | 6,490 ZMK | +40% |
Impact Investing Analyst | 6,770 ZMK | +46% |
Incident Handler | 5,100 ZMK | +10% |
Incident Specialist | 6,530 ZMK | +41% |
Lean Consultant | 5,560 ZMK | +20% |
Manager | 9,600 ZMK | +110% |
Marketing and Business Development Manager | 8,910 ZMK | +92% |
Materials Planner | 3,250 ZMK | -30% |
Merchandise Assistant | 3,090 ZMK | -33% |
Merchandise Controller | 3,220 ZMK | -30% |
Merchandise Planner | 3,390 ZMK | -27% |
Online Consultant | 5,890 ZMK | +27% |
Online Reputation Manager | 5,670 ZMK | +22% |
Operations Analyst | 6,550 ZMK | +41% |
Operations Manager | 7,420 ZMK | +60% |
Operations Research Analyst | 4,480 ZMK | -3% |
Planning and Reporting Manager | 8,100 ZMK | +75% |
Planning Director | 9,560 ZMK | +110% |
Product Designer | 5,440 ZMK | +17% |
Product Manager | 5,990 ZMK | +29% |
Project Administrator | 4,860 ZMK | +5% |
Project Manager | 7,880 ZMK | +70% |
Project Planner | 4,550 ZMK | -2% |
Research Assistant | 4,110 ZMK | -11% |
Research Engineer | 4,630 ZMK | -0% |
Research Officer | 3,790 ZMK | -18% |
Risk Management Specialist | 7,060 ZMK | +52% |
Scholarship Coordinator | 3,570 ZMK | -23% |
Store Planner | 3,750 ZMK | -19% |
Strategy Director | 9,680 ZMK | +110% |
Top Research and Development Executive | 10,900 ZMK | +140% |
Where can you get paid more, working in a private company or the government? The difference between the public or government sector salaries and the private sector salaries in Zambia is 17% on average across all career fields.
Private Sector | 5,600 ZMK | |
Public Sector | +17% | 6,560 ZMK |
A good and competitive compensation would range anywhere between 4,360 ZMK and 5,000 ZMK. This is a very rough estimate. Experience and education play a very huge part in the final earnings.
All salary and compensation figures displayed here are gross salary figures, that is the salary before tax deductions. Because taxes may differ across sectors and locations, it is difficult to accurately calculate the net salary after tax for every career.
The base salary for a careers like Research Engineer in Zambia ranges from 2,220 ZMK to 3,550 ZMK. The base salary depends on many factors including experience and education. It is not easy to provide a figure with very little information, so take this range with a grain of salt.
Both are indicators. If your salary is higher than both the average and the median then you are doing very well. If your salary is lower than both, then many people earn more than you and there is plenty of room for improvement. If your wage is between the average and the median, then things can be a bit complicated. We wrote a guide to explain all about the different scenarios. How to compare your salary