<p>If the American auto companies are not bailed out and actually go under, what will this mean for engineering jobs? Will there be a glut of unemployed engineers over the next several years? How much will this affect engineering prospects in other sectors?</p>
<p>Have no idea where they'll endup...but not just the car industry have engineers. All types of companies do.</p>
<p>I believe most foreign car manufacturers also employ American engineers inside of America. I don't think the total demand for cars will go down just because Ford/GM disappear, so foreign companies can expect to see an increase in demand for their cars.</p>
<p>Total demand for cars will definitely go down if Ford/GM disappear..the past few years the industry moved 16 million+ units/year, if the Big Three went down that would drop to less than 12 million units/year for well into the future.</p>
<p>As to what are all these other engineers going to do...it is pretty scary if you are an engineer who will be graduating in the next few years. I am at ground zero in Michigan, so it appears there are going to be a lot of engineers looking for jobs in the next few years. Most of the growth in demand for engineers in the next decade will be in the energy industry. I'm sure they'll swallow up a lot of auto engineers, but there are so many people in the energy industry about 50 years old and ready to retire, that there will be plenty of positions opening up within the next few years. I have two years of school to go (electrical engineering), in three weeks I start working full-time at an oil-refinery as a co-op student. I'll be out there for the winter and summer semesters. Definitely a good place to be...they are paying $30/hour + relocation bonus. Would highly recommend checking out the oil companies at your next career fair.</p>
<p>dsmo, where is the economics behind your statement coming from? Total demand is in no way dependent on how many firms are in the market. It may take a very slight hit in that consumers will see volatility in the companies from which they are buying, particularly the remaining American ones. The main current issues are that the industry, mainly the American companies, has been overproducing, and that the credit crisis has killed new car sales, most of which are financed.</p>
<p>If even one of the Big Three goes into chapter 11, a) it's never getting out, and b) that's a helluva lot of jobs lost. Although foreign companies like Toyota are creating engineering jobs by increasingly expanding their North American operations in NA, those cannot even begin to make up for the losses incurred if an American company goes under.</p>
<p>As for how engineering prospects in other sectors will change...I don't really know. But I'd guess that because the unemployed automotive engineers will mostly be heavily settled down in Michigan and settled into automotive work, it wouldn't be all that easy for them to flow into other industries.</p>