<p>It’s not <em>that</em> volatile if you’re an engineer. Construction engineering is a little more volatile than structural or civil engineering, which is typically pretty stable.</p>
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<p>My firm has done a lot of research on this, and while nobody really knows for sure what’s going to happen in the future, and while California may be pretty screwed up for a long time to come, you have a tendency to be pretty pessimistic… Propaganda, oversaturation, demise of the industry… It’s really not <em>that</em> bad, rheidzan.</p>
<p>My relative had a CE summer job/internship with the Illinois state DOT last summer. Excellent experience for him, and he obtained excellent reviews. He sent in the paperwork for permanent employment last fall, just before graduation. No word from the DOT by early Feb, so he stopped by his old boss’s office for a chat. The guy told him things weren’t looking so good. The state DOT had just hired ‘a bunch’ of CEs from Puerto Rico!</p>
<p>Now, for someone aspiring for a state CE job in IL, and who agonized about which IL school to attend, how much money to spend, etc. etc. I guess the message is they should have gone to Puerto Rico instead and saved a bunch of their own and the state’s money.</p>
<p>I’m happy for the Puerto Ricans, but how very un-inspiring for the rest of us.</p>
<p>I’ve said it on other threads, but I’ll say it again. DH and I are a two-person structural engineering firm in Maine, not a highly-populated state, and our phone is ringing off the hook. Our dilemma is which jobs to turn down. We found working for OTHER firms to be unstable, because once a big job ended, quite often a lay-off would follow. We take smaller jobs, and always have work to do.</p>
<p>with all respect, from someone in school right now I can tell you we have no good reason to complain about this recession; only thing that’s changed is the competition, now you have to graduate in the top 20-30th percentile…at least we can do this…I feel for people that haven’t a way to edge out the competition right now.</p>
<p>sorry, lowendnewbie, we’re going to stay a two-person firm! No worries about workman’s comp insurance, health insurance, 401Ks, etc.! Life is much simpler, even if a little hectic at times.</p>
<p>“and by the way, those stats about unemployment are probably false, I have taken enough journalism classes/written for the school paper to know that school newspapers MAKE STATS UP ALL THE TIME to meet deadlines with minimal research” - broncosfan212</p>
<p>You’re right, the stat for 19.4% unemployment in the construction industry is wrong. An outdated figure was used; the current unemployment rate is 24.7%!!!</p>
<p>That doesn’t make your new stats any less untrue, dude…</p>
<p>YES, things are bad right now. YES, people are unemployed in construction. But they’re not seeking jobs at McDonald’s as managers, which is probably along the line of what those high school dropouts are applying for. I can promise you that the construction folks are also making a lot more than the high school dropouts are, in general.</p>
<p>Fearmongering is not going to achieve anything.</p>
<p>I think aibarr makes a good point about engineers not taking other jobs. They’re engineers… I don’t think any engineer would be willing to take an 80 grand pay cut. Also, I’m not sure if any McDonalds would even hire someone that’s taking an 80 grand pay cut… that’s just bad management.</p>
The construction labors are hammered pretty bad because they are mostly unionized.
Union = overpay -> destruction of businesses. Don’t believe me? Look at UAW and how they destroyed auto industry.
The stats does not clearly say how much engineers are unemployed and how much are construction workers.</p>
<p>@aibar,
Stating ue rate in construction industry, based on a reputable construction magazine, is not fear mongering. It’s being realistic.
Saying that construction is never gonna recover and that our economy is doomed, is fear mongering.</p>
<p>@hadsed,
In this current economic mess, if an engineer is really desperate for money, he/she would take an 80k pay cut. It’s just that no mickeyds is gonna hire an engineer to flip burgers.</p>
<p>hey guys.
i’m still in high school and going to college next year. I’m planning to major in civil engineering (its the only thing that i actually like to do), well i love it.
i heard that civil engineers will be needed in a few years because of most civil engineers already retiring and there’s still not enough… is that a lie? Even people at Caltrans told me so. Also, I heard that mechanical engineering isnt that great here in California, since its not even needed (well not really) and its harder to get a job.</p>
<p>So, i was looking at Structural Engineering… what do you do in that field? just wondering.</p>
<p>I think the key here is to find out how many civil engineers are actually in construction. I know construction is the biggest subfield of civil engineering, but what’s the actual percentage of civil engineers who wind up there?</p>
<p>50?
70?
90?</p>
<p>Any guesses? This could affect job prospects a lot since other civil engineering subfields (water resources, for example) don’t seem to be hit as hard by the recession.</p>
<p>“Also, I heard that mechanical engineering isnt that great here in California, since its not even needed (well not really) and its harder to get a job.” -naixn92
Two of my friends are mechanical engineers who’ve already graduated. They’ve found jobs, but in another field (one is a receptionist in the insurance industry, while the other is a store manager).</p>
<p>naixn92, what the heck are you talking about? MEs not needed? This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I can think of thousands of products in hundreds of industries off the top of my head that depend on MEs. Seriously, who are you? You are still in HIGH SCHOOL!!! But by all means, continue to post things about engineering as if you have a clue.</p>
<p>You have never taken an engineering course, you have no work experience, you don’t even have a degree, so please do yourself a favor and do not post stupid comments like this. You will never be taken seriously when you say somethink like this.</p>
<p>And Negativeslope, the web site you posted is complete garbage. The outlook for MEs is not negative. Some of the 70 jobs ahead of MEs are ridiculous. According to your link, I guess we would all be better off being secretaries, bookeepers, or social workers.</p>
When I saw that Civil was rated around 30ish and ME was around 70ish, I had to erase the list (up to that point) from my memory… hahahaha! So funny, can’t stop laughing…</p>
<p>“Mechanical engineers are expected to have employment growth of 6 percent over the projections decade, slower than the average for all occupations”</p>
<p>Is the BLS a garbage site too? The issue here is not whether mechanical engineers are needed; it’s whether the supply of mechanical engineers is greater than the demand. Besides, the auto industry used to be a big employer of mechanical engineers, and they’re not doing too well right now.</p>
<p>I know people who would rather be deported and financially unable to support their jobless wife and new baby than take a job other than engineering. In my experience, none of the folks who’ve lost their jobs from my company have gone on to take jobs that aren’t in engineering, to the point that they’re willing to be unemployed for a very, very long time.</p>
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<p>It’s for the <em>whole construction industry</em>, not engineers. The engineering percentage is going to be much lower. Being a tradesman is notoriously unpredictable.</p>