<p>I know there are dozens of articles and plenty of threads on here about how there is either a shortage of engineers or an extreme surplus. Simply, which is true and why? I'm tired of deciphering two sides who have seemingly valid arguments when i don't have the experience or expertise that may be needed to know which side is true. Thank you for all responses.</p>
<p>That all depends on the time and specific field. It is a moving, somewhat unpredictable cycle - needs go up and down.</p>
<p>Being an engineer is no golden ticket to a life of riches. However, pay and employment rates in the “occupation” are better than average.</p>
<p>Lots of info is available on unemployment rates and occupations projections at the Bureau of Labor Statistics.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea30.htm”>http://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea30.htm</a></p>
<p>For “Architecture and engineering occupations” the unemployment rate was 3.6% last year, and 3.4% this year (for Nov). </p>
<p>You can dig into the details on where the jobs are and what they pay.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm#17-0000”>http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_stru.htm#17-0000</a></p>
<p>For example: </p>
<p>71,500 are employed as Aerospace Engineers, with a Mean annual wage of $105,450. The top 5 states for employment are California 15,400, Washington 8,120 Texas 7,630, Ohio 4,340, and Florida 3,320.</p>
<p>I think there isn’t a shortage of engineering students. </p>
<p>There is (generally) a “shortage” of highly qualified workers (with 5-10+ years of experience) who are willing to put up with the sometimes crazy demands/ offers from companies. Companies want more for cheaper. </p>
<p>There is also a severe skills gap between entry level applicants (read fresh out of school) and what the industry seems to think “entry” level engineers ought to be able to do. Because most companies expect someone else to train you, nobody in fact gets trained.</p>
<p>da6onet hit the nail on the head. </p>
<p>The business climate has changed over the years. Back in the dark ages when I graduated it seemed that many engineers went to work for a company and were there for life. (I started for a company right out of school with my BS and retired from that same company 35 years later) In that environment, a company was trying to get the most talented college grads and they would train them. A little up front money spent on training was nothing over the “lifetime” of that person within the company. If there was a temporary downturn in business, the company was reluctant to lay off their staff as they represented the intellectual property of the company.</p>
<p>Then the finance guys came in and the attitude changed. An engineer was now a commodity. Hire them when you need them, fire them when the project is over. Bottom line was everything. One company I know has a goal of 15% growth in year over year profits. When things are slow, the only way you have a chance at it is fire the “extra” staff. The fact that you might need that talent the following year is that year’s problem and not today’s.</p>
<p>Now everyone is looking for those 5 to 10 year guys. They have the experience but don’t usually command the highest of salaries. My son is getting into that range and recently changed jobs. Several companies were tripping over themselves trying to hire him. Where were they when he was just out of school and sending resumes to just about every company he could find and usually got absolutely nothing back, not even a email acknowledging that they did in fact receive his resume. One of those companies that he didn’t hear anything from upped their offer three times trying to get him now. My daughter just graduated with a BS in ME and got all of one job offer. It was a good one, so she’s not complaining. On the bright side, most of her classmates did finally get jobs, although it took some of them some time to finally get an offer.</p>
<p>The companies that complain that they can’t find engineers are usually the same ones that don’t want to train the real entry level engineers. </p>
<p>So, the flip side to this discussion is that, as an engineer, you are responsible for your growth as an engineer. If you aren’t constantly learning new skills, you risk being passed by and made obsolete. Make your own career 5 year plan and assess it something like twice a year; updating as necessary. It doesn’t mean you need to keep changing jobs. I would do that and worked for a very long time with one company. In some cases I was trying to add breadth to my skill set, other times depth; depended on where I wanted to be in 5 years.</p>
<p>Thank you all, nice answers.</p>
<h1>HPuck35 - thanks a lot for you contribution. Its great hearing from people, who have experience in the industry, what is the situation like. I have to say though, that this is kind of a sad thing about engineering, that you really work your ass of at school and then become something like a mercenary, with companies hiring you and then letting you go. I am currently studying ME, but focusing more on the CS side, mostly considering a masters in Robotics which we have here at our school. And if everything goes well, I would like to somehow create my own business in this sector. What experience do you have with engineers entering the business sphere? Thank you!</h1>
<p>@Frankie33, my husband and I started our own consulting engineering firm in 1999. We work out of our home. We had about 13 years experience as structural engineers when we started it. You HAVE to have a good bit of experience before you go out on your own, at least as structural engineers. We work out of our home (we built an addition which included a good-sized office) and really enjoy it. It’s up and down, but not as bad as working for somebody else! (At our first job at the same company, they let us both go the same day! They got rid of about 20 people that day, all design engineers.)</p>
<p>Now we find that large engineering firms like to hire us when they get overloaded with work and don’t want to hire new engineers!</p>
<p>The great thing about working for yourself is that you can buy whatever tools you want. You also have a lot more flexibility. We can take off a day without having to ask permission! The trick is saving up while you’re doing well, so you will have money for vacations and slow times. :)</p>
<p>“companies hiring you and then letting you go” - I think that can happen in a lot of fields, especially when the economy is not doing well. </p>