The highest salaries in Ecuador are in eight branches

The best paid affiliates are in the sectors of electricity, finance, international organizations, mining, education, health, teaching and public administration. The maximum salaries are around USD 6,000.

Mining works at the Fruta del Norte mine, in Zamora Chinchipe.

The Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) detailed to this newspaper the base contribution salaries of affiliates. This according to the sector to which they belong. Until December 2022 there were 3,755,707 active affiliates and 503,014 retirees.

Nadia Romero is a geological engineer, graduated recently. She works for a mining firm in Zamora Chinchipe, in southern Ecuador. “A junior geologist earns about $1,200 a month and a senior makes over $6,000,” she says.

What are companies looking for?

High salaries depend on different variables: career, specializations, and comprehensive training in science, innovation, and technology. They earn more because they are competitive and generate higher returns for the company.

In addition, high salaries depend a lot on the region and the sector where the professional is inserted. “One of the important characteristics is that they are constantly updating their knowledge. This is what Óscar Henk, Human Talent Manager at Pricewaterhouse (PwC) says.

Studies show similar trend

The trend of the IESS, of the best paid professionals in Ecuador, coincides with the latest study from the International University of Valencia (UIV). These careers are electricity, finance, medicine, teaching, engineering and law.

However, university research establishes higher average salaries, in relation to those registered by the IESS. This is between USD 1,500 and USD 4,000 per month. The basic salary in Ecuador is USD 450 in this 2023.

According to the consulting firm PwC, the Ecuadorian labor market has undergone changes with the pandemic. Now companies evaluate their professionals by the level of technological training, the ability to work in a team and to adapt to changes, communication and experience.

The best-paid professionals are responding to these needs because they grew up in the era of the expansion of the internet and social networks, explains Óscar Henk.

Few professionals with high salaries

IESS affiliates with salaries greater than USD 1,000 barely reach 919,094 professionals. This represents 24.47% of the universe of affiliates. The difference, more than 2.8 million, receive salaries of less than USD 999.

In addition to their vocation, future professionals seek careers linked to the professions of the future, such as software developers, Big Data analysts, robotics. In them they see excellent remuneration, job opportunities and affinity with other disciplines. This is an alert for universities to offer innovative careers.

The PwC consultancy knows cases of Ecuadorian companies that find it impossible to retain their workers. This is because they are taken by foreign firms offering them higher salaries than they received.

Labor reactivation and salary increase

The consultancy PwC carried out a survey on remuneration. There he found that after more than two years of pandemic and global economic contraction, the labor market is beginning to move in Ecuador.

There was an impact on remuneration from reduced wages, bonuses and overtime, in almost all areas. By 2022, of the 300 companies studied, 77% made a salary increase of up to 2.28%.

This is how Ana Cristina Rivera, PwC Human Talent Manager, explains it. This favored professionals so that they could recover their salaries and reach the highest paid category. By 2023, 37% of the companies studied mentioned that they would increase wages and the projection is up to 3.86%.