<p>OK, so I have been cruising CC lately and some other websites like Yahoo! And I have been reading that "in this time engineering jobs are going down." Is this true? I always thought that not only would engineering be an amazingly interesting major but also would always have job security. Now I am not so sure. The money is not all that important to me as long as I am able to get by and live. But really which engineering branches dont have a good job outlook?</p>
<p>We are in a worldwide recession. The nature of this recession is a reduction of consumer spending, among other things. As a result, lots of jobs will be lost, including engineering jobs. Any job, including an engineering job, can be lost, if there isn’t enough business to cover the salary.</p>
<p>Software engineering has generally been volatile over the past ten or so years. Even in the recent “Web 2.0” boom, many people were laid off. If you plan to go into software engineering, you should factor the possibility of job loss into your financial plan. Keep debt to a minimum, do not spend extravagantly, and if you are laid off, make sure other people in your field know who you are and what you can bring to the table. This will make it easier for you to withstand a layoff.</p>
<p>You can find out about projected job prospects of different occupations, including engineers of various types, at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics web site:</p>
<p>[Occupational</a> Outlook Handbook, 2008-09 Edition](<a href=“http://www.bls.gov/OCO/]Occupational”>http://www.bls.gov/OCO/)</p>
<p>I recently read an interesting article in a Chemical Engineering journal that showed engineering job openings experience a normal cycle independent of general economic conditions, meaning there is a normal supply/demand cycle for engineers.</p>
<p>It works like this: let’s say kids in their senior year in high school hear there are jobs available in biomedical engineering, so they choose their major based on that information. 4-5 years later, there may be an oversupply of biomed engineers relative to demand, so fewer students choose biomed because now there are not as many openings.</p>
<p>This happened after the Tech crash, and now there is somewhat of a shortage of software engineers several years later.</p>
<p>In general, engineers are in good demand because of the technical nature of the jobs, they tend to have better employment prospects because the supply of people to do them is lower. Not everybody can complete the years of math, science, and lab work necessary to get an engineering degree.</p>
<p>Choose engineering because you are technically curious, like to understand how things work, and want to improve products, systems, and processes. Work hard at it, and you’ll find a career, not just a job, and love it like I have.</p>
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<p>There is no shortage, especially with all of the people who have been laid off.</p>
<p>Engineering is the safest undergraduate degree to get in terms of employment.</p>
<p>Has anyone heard of a person who has a Bachelor’s in engineering and can’t find employment?</p>
<p>The reason I ask is because I heard that no college major guarantees employment.</p>
<p>Indeed, I have known several people, myself included, who have (at least) bachelor’s degrees in engineering, who had been laid off, and did not find employment right away. Indeed, no college major guarantees employment. You must prepare for the possibility of lean times.</p>
<p>Tihs question is too broad. Engineering isn’t some monolithic activity, it’s a diverse field of different groups (electrical, civil, bio, mechanical, aerospace, nuclear, etc.) On top of that, jobmarkets for technical-jobs tend to be highly localized.</p>
<p>Think of the auto-industry. Dealerships (sales of used/new cars) are down significantly. But on the flipside, that has translated into a lot of upside for the auto-service (repair) industry.</p>
<p>the outlook does not depend on what major you are looking for at the moment … it depends on whether the world would stop fighting or not and it will also depend on whether or not the unions and the <em>USA</em>automotive industries are going to merge or not…i mean that is probably their best solution at the moment…plus even if you get a secured job as an engineer… you would be filing at least 60-70% <em>which is dependent on the government</em> of your tax on a 1040EZ which is hell of alot … so… in my mind…</p>
<p>THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO GAURENTEE/SAFE WAY THAT YOU WILL GET A JOB AS AN UNDERGRAD…</p>
<p>plus… why would you ever ask something like this…at this moment in time ?? obviously if the government didnt screw up in the first place… this would not have been a question you have asked</p>
<p>im not at all cocky or anything but you should try reading or watching <strong>INTERNATIONAL NEWS</strong> not just local… that is if you watch or read any news…</p>
<p>pretty bleak right now</p>
<p>At some point people’s gotta have faith and stop asking about engineering job outlook…
I have yet to see those people on architecture or business forum asking about their job outlook despite this meltdown/recession/depression or whatever you call this…</p>
<p>The engineering job outlook is far better than many service jobs which require core underlying wealth in order to make money. The fact of the matter is that our economy requires value production (of which engineering supplies a significant amount). If engineering employment is pretty poor then the chances are that pretty much most other fields will be doing especially poor as well.</p>
<p>google recently announced they are laying off 100 workers and shutting off few of their offices (Austin, TX) requring workers to move over to mountainview.</p>
<p>granted, those 100 are all HR people but google explained this is because they will be hiring fewer ppl than they initially planned/expected.</p>
<p>someone told me google is having a hiring freeze anyway</p>