Engineering job openings are piling up in many sectors as recruiting increases and workers become scarce in the fast-growing economy. Therefore, you need to take aggressive recruiting steps to ensure you land the ideal engineer for your engineering job opening.
The number of available jobs grew by nearly 750,000 this spring, compared with a year earlier, according to recently released Labor Department data. There were 6.7 million job openings on average in the three months ended in June.
This was the highest quarterly level on record dating back to 2001. Economists often look at three-month averages for openings because the month to month data is often choppy.
Unfilled jobs are growing in nearly every industry because an expanding economy is demanding more labor. Last month’s historically low unemployment rate of 3.9% means fewer workers are available. In June, the overall number of available jobs exceeded the number of unemployed Americans by nearly 100,000.
Nowhere was this more acute than with engineering job openings.
The problem is most acute in a few fields, led by transportation. Growing consumer spending and manufacturing output are supporting demand for engineering employees.
Our engineering recruiters have noticed this trend growing over the past 18 months. Now, the 20 broad groupings tracked by the Labor Department confirm this with hard data.
Aggressive Engineer Recruiting Needed
I have sounded the alarm bells about the mounting ‘War For Talent’ for engineering expertise on many of my recent media job recruitment appearances. This includes my recent remarks on Chicago CBS Radio affiliate WBBM News Radio 780.
To attract more engineers many have had to resort to extraordinary measures. Employers need to take a very aggressive, year-round approach to engineering recruitment. The strategy must include actively recruiting engineers even when you do not have an actual engineer job opening.
10 Responses
“The strategy must include actively recruiting engineers even when you do not have an actual engineer job opening.”
Very truth!
Alexei,
I greatly appreciate your comments on my recent article on ways to improve engineering recruiting.
Thanks again,
-Scott
And when you are recruiting engineers, don’t put a lot of faith in what you see during the job interview:
https://www.designworldonline.com/tech-job-interviews-produce-arbitrary-results-heres/
Interesting! Don’t overlook the entry level candidates coming out of university programs at the graduate and postdoc level.
Lee,
I greatly appreciate your insightful comments about engineering recruiting and the job interview.
Thanks so much,
-Scott
Albert,
I greatly appreciate your comments about entry level candidates on my engineer recruitment article.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Engineering talent needs extends to technical roles outside the actual job title of engineer. For example, product management roles often require an engineering degree. Scott makes a good point about the need to constantly be recruiting. The other need is retention. Once you land that top talent, you need to be sure and keep them.
Desiree,
I greatly appreciate your poignant comments on engineering talent and recruiting. Thanks for sharing on my engineer job blog.
Thanks again,
-Scott
Great insight into the current state of recruiting talent and the growing need to aggressively approach recruitment ahead of any needs.
Mr. Dylkiewicz,
I greatly appreciate your comments on my article on the state of engineering talent job recruiting.
Thanks again,
-Scott
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