The incredible, expanding gap between available engineers and new technologies

A recently published study out of Germany supports a similar one conducted in America just a few months back — in short, there are not enough local engineers available in developed nations to support the fast rise of new technologies in the global market.

In December 2015, the United States’ Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) issued an update of its occupational outlook, highlighting the fact that the number of people employed as electrical and electronics engineers has stopped growing, and will remain mostly unchanged for the next decade. 

Specifically, the government put the 10-year forecast for this group of employees at “0% — little or no change.”

One of the main reasons why it is (and will remain) static, per the BLS, is due to companies re-focusing their full-time employees’ efforts towards software-based solutions, and contracting the rest of the work – testing, developing, and other engineering-specific tasks – to third-party companies located in other countries.

It’s certainly a troubling trend for the American engineer, but perhaps even more disconcerting is the fact that it’s happening in other countries once thought to be major hubs for engineering services.

Take, for instance, this recent report published by the German Association for Electrical, Electronic, and Information Technologies. It concluded that over the course of the next decade, the country will need 100,000  more engineers in the fields of electrotechnology, electronics, and computer technology, than will graduate from the country’s university system.

The Association’s findings are based on metrics analyzed between 2005 and 2013. During this time, the number of new engineering positions available increased by an average of 10,500 per year, while unemployment remained low (under 2.5%). This would indicate a tremendous job market for the new engineer, however, during this time, the number of engineers that graduated from German universities was approximately equal to the total amount of positions newly available due to engineers leaving the profession (mostly from retirement).

To fill the aforementioned 10,500 positions being created annually by new technologies, companies have hired professionals from Southern Europe and other countries. By the end of 2013, 10.6% of the total 381,200 electrical engineers working in Germany were foreign nationals. And that number is expected to grow, as it is anticipated at least 100,000 new jobs will be made available over the next decade due to the rapid pace with which technologies are being developed; in particular, digital technology, information technology, and smart grid solutions. 

This matter is not limited to America and Germany alone — the switch to new technologies is occurring the world over. Unfortunately, while the solution might be simple, its implementation isn’t necessarily easy — it’s now up to the actual countries to implement programs that encourage young people to study engineering. The alternative is to go with the trend, and continue to outsource the work abroad to individuals equipped to not only address new technology problems from an educated stance, but the willingness to perform the actual labor.