Two engineering disciplines that are at the forefront of the tech revolution namely Electronics Engineering and Electrical Engineering will stop posting positive job data in the coming years according to US government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). They have estimated in the yearly occupational outlook that the number of people being employed as electronics/electrical engineers stands firm at around 316,000 and this number isn’t expected to grow in the next decade. The outlook predicted that 0% or negligible change will be experienced by this sector in the next ten years. IEEE- the USA chapter has somewhat backed up this claim and said that estimates are probably correct according to the overall scenario in the job market.
Even though the sector will remain strong and contribute a lot towards the development of tech and development in general, it is unlikely to see much growth in the number of jobs. The economy isn’t booming, and more and more work is being outsourced overseas toward China and South East Asia due to a host of financial factors. Russ Harrison, the IEEE government relations director, believes that the overall poor job growth will result in modest if any job growth in the future. What it does shed light on is the fact that companies regularly lobby Congress to allow more offshore personnel because the USA has a dire shortage of skilled tech guys. In fact, it is the opposite. The companies are always reluctant to hire locals because they don’t see USA with its surging minimum wage structure as a viable option for personnel deployment in the future at all.
Electrical engineers are at the forefront of both military and civilian applications and often have to work closely with software and computer engineers to make everything possible. The military industry is especially poised to increase in the coming years as American high-tech products are in high-demand all over the world. But, job growth is still bleak for the future as many small businesses will be boarded up shortly. The engineering services firms will especially be hit in the coming years as bigger entities are cutting costs by contracting. But, some sectors are expected to see growth like renewable energy-based engineers, IC design and communications. Industrial electronics will also decline as much of the manufacturing has been shifted away from the country.
Victor Janulaitis, the head of IT Labor analysis from Janco Associates says that demand for huge space programs and other government programs could significantly increase the job demand for electronics engineers. We all know we have one Mars program in the pipeline, and several satellites, as well as USA, continues to maintain its control over the upper atmosphere. Tax breaks to companies will also go a long way in making things easier and smoother for companies to set up units here. But, nonetheless, it is also in the electronics engineers’ to stand up and create businesses of their own if they want to contribute towards a positive job data. Wo, electronics, and electrical majors, does this stat scare you? Let us know in the comments!