Having doubts about getting that engineering degree? Perhaps this will help ease your concerns: according to a recent survey by Randstad CPE, engineers are less likely to worry about their job.
According to a study of over 2,000 UK employees, 23% of the UK workforce feel “insecure” at work—but only 18% of engineers feel that way. The only other industries where professionals feel more confident about their employment prospects are in finance, wholesale, and hospitality. Those that are most insecure in their jobs are workers in IT, the arts, professional services, and general government work.
Furthermore, job security among engineers today is significantly higher than it was during the financial crisis: in 2009, less than have of engineers felt secure in their position, and that has risen to 65% today, due to what Randstad perceives as a skills gap in the sector: there are simply not enough qualified engineers entering the industry: in the UK, it has fallen from 340,000 in 2008 to 317,000 in 2013. Accounting for projected population growth, this means a shortage of 48,000 engineers, according to Randstad. The shortfall is due in part to tougher immigration laws preventing qualified applicants from entering the UK market; but it is also due in part to fewer graduates in engineering. If you’re considering an engineering degree, this will certainly spell good news come graduation: engineering and construction groups are certainly recruiting. URS said it plans to recruit at least 120 graduate and apprentice positions in the UK this year, among the 550 staff it plans to hire, and BT said it would hire 300 graduates. Even in Wales, according to the Royal Academy of Engineering, there will be need for at least 2,500 graduates by 2020 to keep up with retiring engineers.
Furthermore, in the U.S., for example, the science and engineering field proved more resilient overall during the financial downturn compared to the average, and their wages grew faster than the average profession, according to a Congressional Services Report.
The Cons
Some critics, on the other hand, say that such labor shortages are in fact a myth perpetuated by the industry, or exaggerated for the industry as a whole while the shortages are only in certain specialties. According to a recent article in The Atlantic, for example, there is little to support the claim of a dearth of engineers: if that was the case, their wages would have been steadily rising, relative to professions where there is an oversupply of skilled neighbor—and that has not been the case. More worryingly, this job security may be based on false hope entirely: increasingly, engineering jobs are going offshore or being filled by cheaper temporary labor from abroad. The Atlantic is not the only publication raising an alarm: as far back as last year, The Washington Post quoted an influential study that concludes that shortage in science, technology, engineering, and math “is a myth.”
But regardless of the pros and cons, an engineering degree is demanding, and only the dedicated need apply. Regardless of surveys and employment numbers, getting a paying job will require plenty of studying, most likely some unpaid work, the ability to work within a bureaucracy that often values administrators and sales people over professionals, and, more and more often, willingness to travel and even be based in further and further locations around the world. If that does not scare you off, an engineering degree will prove an invaluable ticket to professional success.