IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 44

Hiring Heats Up
Jobs are more plentiful, and wages are inching up slowly
By Terry CosTlow

Careers

By the time George Robison finally got among engineers. That's about as low as the
a pink slip from a fading auto industry rates get.
start-up in Detroit in June 2006, he
Not all engineers can expect to get handwas already working on Plans B and fuls of job offers, but they can look forward
C in his job hunt. Although the Motor to raises of 4 to 5 percent, or about 2 points
City's woes continue, Robison, who above the current U.S. inflation rate. They're
holds a master's degree in alternative also gaining a bit more job security than
fuels, found a job by November. He even got many have felt in the past couple of years.
a solid raise.
That's true regardless of whether the
The employment market for engineers is engineering diploma is yellowed or freshly
"no place for a nervous person," says Robison, printed. "There's a lot more competition for
now a software engineer at IAV Automotive top graduates this year," says Tom Lucas,
Engineering, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
director of international human resources
His success in finding a job even during at National Instruments, in Austin, Texas.
Detroit's downturn underscores a bright "RF and analog continue to be key skill
outlook for engineers, especially those in sets that are hard to find." Lucas adds that
popular disciplines. Nobody's expecting a National Instruments hires mainly new
return to the hot markets of the dot-com era, graduates, and now it generally pays them
but there's general agreement that demand 5 percent more than it did last year.
for engineers is growing.
The typical EE grad can expect to earn
"It's gotten a lot harder to find talent," US $54 915, according to the National
says Amy McKee, senior manager for Association of Colleges and Employers, in
global staffing at Autodesk, of San Rafael, Bethlehem, Pa. That's significantly higher
Calif. "There's a lot more venture capital than the $44 048 and $47 750 their busimoney in Silicon Valley. Candidates now ness administration and civil engineering
have multiple offers."
counterparts respectively average, NACE
AeA, formerly the American Electronics says, but still only 1.6 percent more than new
Association, estimates that the United States EE grads made, on average, in 2006.
added 150 000 high-technology jobs in 2006,
nearly twice as many as in the previous year, Senior engineerS face far more variable
for a two-year increase in total employment prospects, depending on their specialties.
of 2 percent. The association estimates that Steve Patchel, senior consultant at Watson
unemployment is now 2.5 percent among Wyatt Worldwide, in Santa Clara, Calif., notes
computer scientists and less than 2 percent that although average wage increases run

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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum July, 2007

IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 1
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 2
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 3
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 4
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IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 25
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 26
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 27
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 28
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IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 40
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 41
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 42
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 43
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 44
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - 45
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum July, 2007 - Cover4
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