The engineering talent shortage is leaving many companies with a shrinking pool of qualified candidates.
“It’s so hard to find good help these days” has been an old chestnut for decades, but it has recently been making its rounds in engineering hiring circles. Massive economic ripples from a global pandemic response and related economic fallout are still rippling through engineering job forces today. Businesses have to understand and calibrate for the ongoing engineering talent shortage that is challenging to navigate for firms that rely on these unique skill sets.
Engineering Talent Shortage: Analyzing Causes
The talent shortage can hit especially hard for businesses entrenched in engineering or adjacent to it. Addressing the issue is not the responsibility of a single entity but will require an industry-wide shift to accommodate the new requirements for satisfying current and future engineering talent. To better understand the issue, let’s highlight some of the current obstacles facing the engineering talent pool:- Demand/supply mismatch – Engineering is a nebulous field encompassing dozens, if not hundreds, of loosely related disciplines. For example, consider the skill sets of engineers trained in mechanical, chemical, materials, or aerospace—these roles may not have the general applicability of electrical, software, and industrial/manufacturing skills. Increasingly, engineers have to adopt a hybridized depth of expertise in their primary field while supplementing their skill set with a broad cross-disciplinary approach. Managers also expect engineering talent to be future-proof for emergent technology (AI being the primary example) to improve workflow processes and stay ahead of trends – increasing the pressure for engineering talent’s skill sets to remain up-to-date.
- Education/professional mismatch – Schools have an unenviable position of training potential employees for generality, not the specificity necessary to transition freshly graduated workers into the workforce seamlessly. Due to the difficulty of schools creating and adequately staffing new programs, industry needs can take a back seat to the already built curriculum. In some domains, there is concern about the aging engineering workforce whose institutional knowledge is rapidly advancing toward retirement. This situation proves dire for the industry’s future and forces businesses to rely on more expensive senior talent and consulting.
- Inadequate skill training – Professional development is expensive for companies, and individuals (primarily younger engineers) are unlikely to shoulder the cost burden without employer aid. While more focused than general education, industry-level certification or training may still lack the specificity necessary to meet an organization’s goals. Papering over current or potential employee gaps by turning to more senior engineers continues to be immediately cost-prohibitive while doing nothing to improve the prospects of current and future junior talent. Although management may be aware of development inefficiencies within their organization, there may be little budget or hours for allocation.
What Organizations Can Do To Build Engineering Talent
Fortunately, solutions are abound. While these are not short-term solutions, businesses should embrace (and continue to brainstorm) these methods to improve retention of talent and prepare future engineers for organizational integration:- Employee retraining and skills acquisition – Instead of looking for new engineering hires who can hit the ground running, businesses can improve their internal training programs to retain their current talent while growing their abilities. Developing a long-term strategy for engineering employees ensures organizational continuity and redirects institutional knowledge away from the individual. For some organizations, this can include training those without an engineering educational background (e.g., manufacturing floor) to fill vacancies internally while experiencing a smoother learning curve between “hiring” and employee autonomy in their new role.
- Working with local institutions – Partnering with local community colleges and universities can allow businesses a unique opportunity to shape student success outcomes as they segue from education to careers, up to courses built specifically by manufacturing/professional trades to meet industry needs. Working with students at a career inflection point can also pave the way for internships and other low-risk methods for businesses to employ new engineering professionals.
- Industry collaboration – While engaging with other companies around a limited talent pool may seem unbelievable, an industry can pull together significantly with combined efforts. This strategy can look like local job fairs, maker events, or similar engagement opportunities that can entice youth and young professionals toward local businesses (providing them with a leg up on larger engineering firms).
More trained engineers are a boon to the workforce but will require significant investment.
Helping Your Clients Address Engineering Talent Shortage Needs
Addressing the engineering talent shortage will take time, and the combined efforts of industry and academia at multiple levels of engagement. Due to the time criticality of some tasks, businesses will continue to rely on higher-demand, senior-level engineers. However, it is imperative that focus be placed on supporting early career and next generation engineers as they develop their skills to help electronics design companies, OEMs and ODMs meet the ever-increasing consumer demands for electronic products. IC manufacturers can be integral to the success of the electronics developers in meeting its mandates of providing high quality products across multiple industries that satisfy industry standards for quality and reliability and keep pace with application demands. Doing so requires understanding how engineers think, engaging with them where they are, and providing products and data to help them optimize efficiency. By partnering with UL, the most trusted resource for electronic component CAD models and design information, you maximize your marketing strategy and become an invaluable asset for your clients and their engineering teams.
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