[Technology Report]
Global Warming Strikes The Cubes And Benches
Engineers who experienced chilly conditions recently are starting to feel a thaw in the air, though worries about your careers remain.
Engineering has been a tough profession over the past few years. Averse to market risk in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the market constrained its investment in R&D. Offshore outsourcing and an influx of lower-priced labor exerted a downward pressure on salaries and other compensation. And, uncertainty about the future had a chilling effect on engineers' hopes and dreams.
But things seem to be warming up. According to our 2007 Reader Survey, nearly 70% of engineers saw an increase in their paychecks this year, while only 8% saw their incomes dip. Also, 63% of engineers feel adequately compensated for the work they do - up somewhat from 58% two years ago - and nearly 60% believe their pay package is equal to or more competitive than what's being offered by other employers. In addition, nearly four out of five engineers are still willing to promote their chosen profession to students considering an engineering career.
"Engineering affords a young person who has the drive and motivation to explore many avenues through out all technologies and industries," said one engineer. "This diversity can create many opportunities that continually expand the boundaries of one's career. As an example I have been involved in solar physics, space science, alternative fuels and energy, medical products, SCADA, RF, aviation, and industrial controls. Each of these allowed me to grow and learn and reinvent myself as an engineer."
But that doesn't mean engineering is a bed of roses. Nearly a third of engineers say they were saddled with increased workloads due to staff cuts and budget cuts in 2007, and one in four had to deal with canceled projects and/or permanent staff layoffs. So why such high grades for a profession that's challenged on so many fronts?
One engineer put it this way: "For those people who have the innate desire to solve problems and take great satisfaction in seeing their solutions in action coupled with a natural propensity for logical thinking and abstracting physical systems mathematically, there is no better vocational fit. Anyone looking to get into engineering simply because the starting salaries are attractive should consider a different career. If you can't continually live for the challenge, in the long term the stress of solving hard problems and keeping up with the latest technology will drive you into management, marketing, or burnout."
How Safe is Your Job?
The fact remains that engineering continues to offer a fairly high degree of job security, even if individual engineers may not always feel personally secure in their jobs. The good news is that only about 10% of survey respondents reported that their company planned to scale back engineering staff this year. On the flip side, the percentage of those who said their company planned to increase the number of engineering jobs in the coming year dropped to 35% from 40% last year. That may explain why 60% of those surveyed said they felt some degree of uncertainty about their job security.
"There are engineers in India and China willing to work for a fraction of what it costs to live comfortably in the U.S.," said one survey respondent. "As long as U.S. trade policy is willing to shift those jobs overseas, then job security will be an issue."
Another put it this way: "There is a constant fear of unemployment. I've been an engineer for 43 years and for at least 40 of them I was unsure if I would have a job the next year. Other fields offer more job security, better pay, and less chance of being obsoleted or outsourced."
On a more positive note, more than half of engineers say their company plans to maintain its current number of engineering jobs, which suggests that, at least for some engineers, the outlook is stable. But one engineer noted: "There is no shortage of engineering jobs, but companies such as mine have a policy of hiring an H1 visa holder over a domestic worker. We currently have a shortage of design people, but the department managers are not allowed to post the jobs outside the company. But they can post them to our division in India."
Other warning signs came out of this year's survey, too. For example, the number of engineers who believe their company was more focused on employee retention this year than a year ago dropped from 40% to 35%. Also, most respondents still feel that the opportunity for advancement isn't as strong as it used to be. Today's typical engineers have 24 years of engineering experience, including 11 years with their present company, and have been promoted twice by their current employer.
Generally speaking, engineers are content with those employers. Fewer than 7% said they were actively seeking a new job, down from nearly 10% a year ago, though nearly a third said they'd follow up a lead if the right opportunity came along. Another third said they would consider another job if they were personally approached. But the number of engineers who said they couldn't envision changing jobs in the foreseeable future rose slightly in 2007 - from 25% to 28%.
What situations are most likely to motivate engineers to accept another job? Not surprisingly, higher compensation tops the list of incentives, followed by more interesting work, the opportunity to seek more personal fulfillment, better job stability, and the chance to work for a more dynamic company.
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