Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics and IEEE agree; engineers will see zero to no growth in employment opportunities
In a recently published job outlook, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistic predicts electrical engineers and electronics engineers will see “little to no change” in employment outlook from 2014 to 2024.
Why? The BLS says, “Change in employment is expected to be tempered by slow growth or decline in most manufacturing sectors in which electrical and electronics engineers are employed.”
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, an advocacy organization with more than 235,000 members, told Computer World the projection is “probably correct.”
“While some parts of the engineering and computer workforce remain strong, the reality is that much of the engineering world, like the economy in general, has seen little job growth over the past several years,” said Russ Harrison, IEEE government relations director. “Electrical engineers, like most Americans, will see modest, if any, job growth for the foreseeable future. … This bleak view of engineering is in direct contrast with company claims that American is suffering from a massive shortage of skilled engineers. Companies need to focus their energies on investing in their American workers and in America, not lobbying Congress for access to inexpensive foreign workers.”
At a glance, the BLS tallies 315,900 electrical and electronics engineers working in the U.S.; in 2014, the group earned an average of $93,260 per year or $44.84 per hour.
The federal government office describes electrical and electronics engineers as the people who “design, develop, test and supervise the manufacturing of electrical equipment, such as electric motors, radar and navigation systems, communications systems and power generation equipment. Electronics engineers design and develop electronic equipment, such as broadcast and communications systems — from portable music players to global positioning systems.”
