It’s almost ironic. We’re living in a time when engineering has never been more important. From communications devices in the hands of most people on the planet to the intelligence that is being embedded into manufactured goods at an unprecedented scale, engineering solutions have never been in higher demand.
Yet market dynamics are seemingly conspiring to undermine the ability of many engineers to make a decent living. Many engineers find themselves unemployed. Those who are employed are seeing their compensation erode even as they put in long hours.
Many factors are contributing to this somber situation. Globalization is placing downward pressure on wages. Advances increasingly seem to deliver incremental outcomes, rather than transformative ones. And there just isn’t enough oxygen in the economy to fuel the kind of recovery that would really heat up the engineering job market.
So this year when we surveyed the experiences and views of nearly 3000 U.S. engineering professionals, we had to take a look at some very sobering realities. We hope the resulting insights will be of value to you, even if it’s only to let you know that you are not alone in your struggles—and that these are indeed pressure-packed times for the engineering profession.