The pandemic has severely affected the workforce in many different industries. The unemployment rate spiked to 14.7% in April and, as of August, the rate has steadily dropped to 8.4%; compared to pre-virus, when the rate was 3-4%. With fewer opportunities, both recent engineering graduates and seasoned engineers are experiencing a very tight and competitive job market. With that said, as COVID-19 recedes, demand for engineers is expected to increase.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment growth for engineers is strongly projected, with nearly 140,000 new jobs expected for engineers through 2026. Over this period, Civil Engineers can expect 32,200 additional jobs, followed by Mechanical Engineers with 25,300, Industrial Engineers with 25,100 jobs, and Electrical Engineers with 16,200 new jobs.
That growth comes in part because of new uses for artificial intelligence, robotics, manufacturing, and other technologies that will be incorporated into engineered products such as medical devices and to the increased production of computer and electronic products, transportation equipment, and machinery, according to the Bureau.
Although the engineering sector have been impacted by job loss related to the pandemic, projected job growth is high from Beacon’s perspective as well. And, our timeline is not necessarily post-vaccine. The pipeline of projects in Q4 and Q1 is strong. In addition, activity has significantly increased this fall for the Beacon recruiting team. Certainly, the medical device and pharmaceutical sectors are driving most of the activity, but Beacon Recruiters have also facilitated assignments, in this month alone, in the automotive, industrial automation, defense and aerospace industries.