For many, more work includes more managerial duties. The average number of employees that respondents supervised jumped from 11 in 2009 to 15 in 2010 to 26 in this year's survey.
Problem solving, technical challenges, and the chance to be creative were the reasons most widely cited as contributing to job satisfaction. "The opportunity to see the things I design make peoples' lives better," is how one respondent described it. On the flip side, the 10 percent of despondent respondents list office politics, salary, and little room for advancement or recognition as reasons for their dissatisfaction.
The diversity of the Design News community is reflected in the multidisciplinary makeup of survey respondents. Thirty-seven percent of you work in mechanical engineering; 24 percent are electrical; 11 percent, manufacturing; 5 percent electromechanical; 4 percent, software; 4 percent, controls; and 2 percent, materials. (The remainder selected "other.")
Whether it's the economy or inertia, most of you are staying put for now. Thirty-three percent say they're always open to better opportunities, 25 percent are not actively seeking a new position, and 19 percent say they're happy where they are. Only 9 percent are actively searching for a job, with another 14 percent admitting to "passive" interest.
For longtime engineers, both the joys and the pain points cited by fellow survey respondents will ring true. "Convincing upper management to think long-term about technology" and "Never sufficient time for launch of new products" are two examples penciled in as responses to our query about challenging job factors. Indeed, 47 percent of you found your job highly challenging, and nearly the same number said it was more stressful now than two years ago. That was mostly the result of heavy workloads, though balancing work and home life and keeping up with new technology were also enumerated.
Despite it all, the work itself still offers many of you intrinsic satisfaction. "Opportunity to develop meaningful products," wrote one respondent. "Build stuff in lab -- not just sitting in cubicle all day," wrote another. And then there was this: "Once in a while I get paid to put on waders and mess about in a creek."
Where were these jobs a few years ago? I have definitely suffered a stagnation, if not a drop in pay. Perhaps it's my industry. Which ones are garnering six figures?
Yes, I agree it is good news. Data shows engineering to be a strong career choice moving forward. While I have no hard data in this area, it seems like many companies are also starting to advertise engineering openings more frequently and aggressively.
However, one trend I also continue to see is the increasing development of 'best cost country' engineers. Engineers are cautious and many continue to watch this trend closely - as it will affect salary structures in the future.
This is good news. It will be a good day when more company executives acknowledge it. There are still a number of companies (one I know of with record profits for the last few years) who are telling there employees they are lucky to have a job and not to expect a raise this year.
This survey shows that engineers have a lot to be thankful for. We are fortunate in many ways. For one thing, we are paid good money to do work that we find interesting and challenging. How many people can say that?
I have met some engineers who seem bitter; envious of those who are better off than them (doctors, lawyers, and professional athletes, for example), and scornful of those who are worse off than them ("lazy," "unproductive," etc.). These engineers constantly complain about their workloads, the various stresses and frustrations of the workplace, and how everything in the world is going to hell in a handbasket. They seem to lose sight of just how lucky they actually are. Not only is this attitude bad for productivity and morale, it's bad for their own health.
I'm thankful for the chain of events in my life which led me into an engineering career; thankful for the family, friends, and co-workers who supported and encouraged me through engineering school; and thankful for the fact that I am able to provide my family with a reasonable standard of living while doing work I enjoy. What else could I ask for?
Hopefully, engineers who see how fortunate they are will be inspired to give back, whether by tutoring and mentoring students, getting involved with organizations like Engineers Without Borders, or other activities. This is a good way to help pass on the good fortune which we have received.
This is particularly good news given that unit labor costs are not going up. Just this past month, they've gone down. So the gains in engineering salaries are are rising as companies -- and government entities -- are pushing their costs down. Is this a matter of supply and demand?
An average of $93,465 is really quite an impressive figure, when you consider that 20% of the country makes less than $91,202. It's especially impressive when you consider that the $91,202 number I just quoted is a household number, not an individual salary number. It's probably safe to assume that many of the engineers earning in the $93,465 range have other income in their households.
It is indeed heartening to see positive economic news given all that's gone on these last few weeks. It does seem like many of the sectors catering to the engineering market (in my world, CAD and PLM vendors) are reporting strong financials indiciating that companies are investing in tools to foster innovation and engineering productivity.
It's also interesting that so many of the respondents have been in the same job or company for many years. As unemployment remains a key issue and one of the biggest drags on the economy, did the survey garnter any feedback on layoffs or even respondents' ability to find a new job if necessary or desired?
For 3D printing to make the jump from rapid prototyping to manufacturing, engineers will need to find easier ways to move products from their CAD screens to their printers.
Gigabit and PoE are two networking technologies moving ahead in tandem as industrial users power remote Ethernet devices such as IP security cameras at 1,000 Mbps over existing CAT5 cable.
New versions of BASF's Ecovio line are both compostable and designed for either injection molding or thermoforming. These combinations are becoming more common for the single-use bioplastics used in food service and food packaging applications, but are still not widely available.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 5
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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