(Newswire.net — December 31, 2013) Burlington, MA —
Although confidence in the employment market is still shaky throughout the United States, a report released last month by the Randstad Engineering Employee Index shows there is a growing trend in employing professional engineers. Engineering jobs are providing the most growth among surveys taken by Randstad in different professional fields. Also, professional engineers find placement for jobs and job satisfaction to be higher than other professions.
Several engineering contract placement agencies in the Boston area indicate promising job growth within various engineering disciplines. TRIAD Engineering Corp (http://www.triad-eng.com), located in the Boston area, says that “Over the past month or so we have seen specific contract demand for mechanical designers, PCB designers and R&D mechanical technicians.” While certain industries in the job market are still on shaky ground, industries which focus on science and/or math as well as engineering positions are currently experiencing a surge in job growth for a number of reasons:
1. STEM related fields (those related to Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math) are experiencing a push for more women professionals in these particular career fields. Careers in these fields have, in the past, tended to be dominated by male professionals. Recent trends are showing more women seeking employment in these fields and being hired than ever before.
2. Many engineering professions are showing a greater trend of Baby Boomers retiring. This trend leaves a number of job vacancies needing to be filled by qualified engineering professionals.
3. There is a growing demand for engineering professionals, but fewer eligible participants entering the field. This creates a major opportunity for individuals who are still completing their educations to find an exciting career path. Students and older individuals making a career change who obtain engineering degrees will find there is more competition among companies to hire qualified candidates, which gives applicants in the engineering pool a greater edge in finding a good position. Salary and benefits packages for newly hired engineering professionals will often be exceptionally generous.
According to TRIAD Engineering Corp. (http://triad-eng.com), “Direct hire activity remains robust, with a particular emphasis on sales engineers, quality engineers, electrical (firmware and hardware) engineers, commissioning engineers and manufacturing engineers. These opportunities span a variety of industries including consumer product development, A&E / MEP, electronics and manufacturing.” They also add that “Experienced mechanical engineers (building systems) remain in high demand with well-established (both small and large in size) Massachusetts firms.” (http://www.triad-eng.com/eng-job-search.php)
Other sources suggest that engineering jobs, particularly in large cities throughout the country, tend to be showing a steady increase in openings available. This trend provides interested applicants a wide variety of placement opportunities throughout the country. Engineering applicants and professionals now have many more choices of where in the country they would like to work.
Major metropolitan areas tend to offer the greatest diversity and numbers of engineering jobs in the country. For example, Boston area engineering jobs are projected to continue to rise in the next decade. Part of the reason why Boston may offer some of the most exclusive jobs in the field of engineering is because of the proximity of some of the most prestigious schools in the country such as MIT and Northeastern, for example, as well as many other schools with two or four year engineering programs. These colleges and universities offer some of the best engineering programs in the country, with graduates of these schools in some of the top percentages of new hires in the field.
Randstad surveys suggest engineering professionals have an increasing sense of job security, as well. 81% of professional engineers surveyed reported feeling secure about not losing their jobs over the next 12 months which is much higher than many other professional fields, and an 8% increase from the previous quarter when professional engineers were surveyed.
With the economy still struggling, engineering positions, both contact and full time, are helping to lead the way to economic and job stabilization.