site.btaSurvey: Auto Mechanics' Starting Wage Almost Equals Doctors'

The pay earned by auto mechanics in Bulgaria has increased by more than 50% over the last two or three years, and the average wage of experienced members of the occupation has reached around BGN 5,000 per month, the 24 Chasa daily found in a survey, as reported on its website earlier this month.

The starting monthly wage of an auto mechanic without prior experience is around BGN 2,000, almost equalling that of a doctor. At present, a doctor with a specialty who starts work at a state or private hospital is paid around BGN 2,200 monthly, the paper says.

Information published on job search websites shows that almost all service stations of authorized car distributors in Bulgaria have job openings for what are nowadays called mechatronic engineers. Some service stations offer a minimum of BGN 3,000 per month for junior mechanics, and some start from BGN 3,400.

A well-known service station of a Skoda dealership even offers a starting wage of BGN 1,800 for a carwash attendant.

Higher pay comes with higher skill requirements. There is no opening for an auto mechanic that does not require a high level of computer literacy and experience in using specialized vehicle diagnosis equipment and computer software.

Skill requirements are particularly high when it comes to the maintenance of trucks and special purpose vehicles. Starting wages in this segment are no less than BGN 3,500 per month, and with time and experience, remuneration surpasses BGN 5,000.

Insiders say one of the reasons for the visible growth of incomes in this domain is the exodus of workers to other countries. Bulgarian as well as international websites carry announcements about mechatronic engineers' jobs in countries like Germany and the Netherlands, where pay figures are the same as here, but in euro, 24 Chasa says.