Engineering Staffing Trends Favor 5 SectorsEngineering Staffing Trends Favor 5 Sectors

The lag in hiring that affected the entire staffing industry during 2024 started catching up with engineering. Yet there’s hope for new demand in 2025. The Engineering Staffing Report from Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) offers data and analysis on the state of engineering jobs, both temporary and permanent. The report includes a survey of businesses that hire engineers. While there was a general softness in demand in 2024, survey respondents revealed optimism for 2025. SIA pointed to five industries that could help power next year’s wave of engineering staffing growth.

The need for temp engineers in 2025 will be particularly strong. “From a staff perspective the demand for engineers is holding up well,” Timothy Landhuis, VP of research at SIA told Design News. “The industry has been choppy, but temp demand has held up. It’s growing while other segments of the industry have declined.”

Here’s an analysis of the five sectors that are expected to be strong for engineering jobs in 2025.

Renewable energy

Solar power was one of the standout performers in 2024, and the industry is poised to make a reprise in 2025. The staffing boom that followed the initial influx of funding from the Infrastructure Reduction Act cooled in the second half of 2024, but a continued — if more moderate — expansion is expected through 2025. One source of continued growth is likely to be the ongoing need for massive amounts of electricity to power data centers that support AI and other advanced software.

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Electricity growth around data centers could range anywhere from 25% to 60% over the next three to five years, a rate that many people believe our existing electrical infrastructure is not equipped to handle. Solar panels co-located at data centers are one option companies will use to meet the ramp-up in demand. “The US share of global renewable electricity grew from 20% in 2000 to 30% in 2023. Much of that came from solar and wind,” said Landhuis. “Engineers will be needed for the manufacturing and deployment of solar and wind. Hydro power also continues to be important. Even nuclear energy is expected to grow. The expansion is prompting the need for engineers.”

Electric power utilities

The International Energy Agency estimated in 2024 that one ChatGPT query uses 10 times as much electricity as a Google search. As more people use ChatGPT for searches, stress on the existing electrical grid is increasing exponentially. Even with added power generation from new sources like renewables, existing power infrastructure will need an upgrade to manage future technologies.

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Power is taken for granted by the public. The existing electric infrastructure has not gained as much investment as it needs. “The power grid needs to be upgraded,” said Landhuis. “Both data centers and the growth in electric cars is putting demand on electricity production and distribution. The safety of the utilities is also a factor. Look at the fires in Southern California. The upgrades will increase the demand for engineers.

Nuclear power

Companies are looking closely at every viable solution to increase electricity generation. Nuclear — so recently an area of pullback across the US and most of the world — is gaining attention. Although the industry faces entrenched negative public perception, that view is changing.

A resurgence of nuclear power offers great opportunities for engineers. The industry is facing a shortfall of talent, from nuclear engineers and techs down through to construction, maintenance and support. “Nuclear energy is back on the radar for many countries as they think about their power needs. Some of the big tech CEOs are talking about nuclear energy,” said Landhuis. “One of the breakthroughs is modular reactors, which are much smaller. They alleviate some of the safety concerns, so companies are pushing ahead with the technology.”

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Aerospace and defense

Demand in aerospace and defense slowed for some staffing firms in 2024 despite high levels of commercial air travel and ongoing consumer spending boosting the need for transportation of goods. Going into 2025, these pressures are expected to combine with an aging workforce, a software revolution, and ongoing difficulty with hiring new workers to provide new opportunities for engineers.

Jobs that are expected to benefit include aerospace, mechanical, electrical, and materials engineers to design aircraft, aerospace and defense applications and new materials, and electrical systems. “Some of the geo conflicts we’re seeing are leading to more defense spending. Ukraine and Israel must be restocked,” said Landhuis. “This will put pressure on US defense spending. Also, in space developments, the private sector is playing a bigger role. That’s going to lead to more private sector jobs.”

Robotics and advanced manufacturing

In the December 2024 Staffing Industry Report webinar, SIA Economist Michael Schultz presented on US factory investment, which came close to $20 billion (measured in 2022 dollars) by July 2024. That’s almost quadruple the 2005-2019 average of $5.6 billion. Investment from the Inflation Reduction and CHIPS Acts are combining with the long-term investments many large manufacturers have made in warehouse and factory automation. While new and improved facilities made possible by the current tsunami of funding are still in the planning or construction phases, the first of these factories is slated to come online in 2025. Many more are expected to open through 2026.

As these facilities open, there will be a corresponding wave of demand for industrial, manufacturing, automation, and quality engineers. “We’ve had some federal spending in the Chips Act as well as the Inflation Reduction Act. This means dollars spent on factories have gone way up,” said Landhuis. “We continue to see the advancements in robots in recent years. We sometimes get the question – are robots going to take everybody’s jobs? Not so, it’s hybrid. You still need the people, in particular, engineers and technicians.”

There has also been a shift in the type of engineers in demand. “The software engineers were getting the glory. They were seen as the engineers in greatest demand,” said Landhuis. “Now, with the upgrading of infrastructure, advanced robotics, and increased power generation, there is need for engineers who work in the physical world to overcome physical-world challenges. Some of the jobs are changing, such as supervising the robot and programming the robot. So, workers can take on higher value tasks.”