Following up on her article ‘engineering change for women-in-work’ Technical Hires Co-Founder Chloe Khatcherian examines the talent shortage in engineering and how empowering women could be the answer.
Economic & employment overview
‘Despite the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike aimed at slowing down inflation, the job market is thriving. The latest figures on the US economy suggests an employment market as buoyant as ever. 303,000 jobs were added in March with unemployment falling 0.1% to 3.8% in February. Beating the predictions of economists polled by Reuters:
“The unemployment rate has remained below 4% for 26 straight months, the longest such stretch since the late 1960s”.
Particularly notable is the construction sector, which saw the addition of 39,000 new jobs, double the average monthly gain over the last 12 months. However, could this good news be masking a talent crisis fast approaching, if not already here?
The engineering talent dilemma
The engineering sector, critical to US infrastructure and technological advancement, faces a dramatic talent shortfall.
According to a research paper from BCG & SAE International, the US will need about 400,000 new engineers every single year to bridge the talent gap fuelled by economic growth and legislative policies like the 2022 Build Back Better Act.
The current reality is already startling. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 33% of new engineering roles currently go unfilled, with the problem only set to get worse as demand growths 13% each year over the next decade. Reaching 186,000 vacancies across the US by 2031.
New engineering roles versus available supply of new engineering talent (thousands):
The diversity & inclusion opportunity
A solution to this massive talent shortfall could be quite simple: more female engineers. As discussed in my last article, there is a significant gender gap in engineering with women only representing 16% of the workforce, supported by BLS data (2022).
Critics might argue that perhaps ‘women just aren’t interested in engineering’. However, this doesn’t match the data. Of those women who graduated with an engineering degree and joined the industry, only 27% of those remained ten years later. This is compared to 41% of men, which seems to indicate a cultural challenge, necessitating a more inclusive and supportive approach.
The fact that woman actually make up the majority of college students but only 2% of women graduate with an engineering degree compared to 10% of men shows talent is potentially being lost earlier in the process too.
Encouraging STEM early on
As highlighted in the BCG paper “a leaky talent pipeline exacerbates the engineering gap”. Of all the students that express an interest in engineering only 13% complete a degree. More effort put into encouraging interest in STEM subjects at school could help drive more interest in engineering and increase both diversity in hiring and the size of the talent pool.
Encouraging young students, especially girls, could be the silver bullet for the sector. Doubling the number of women who pursue engineering degrees could hypothetically contribute 40,000+ more engineers annually and reduce the talent gap by 30%.
Collaborating to bring about change
Many employers have already recognised the opportunity and I’ve worked with many clients who have already launched initiatives to support women and young people in general to pursue engineers. Yet there is room for a more coordinated effort between industries and educational institutions to encourage more women to consider engineering as an option.
Final thoughts
I regularly speak to engineering graduates & EIT’s to provide career guidance, insights into the job market and coaching on interviewing techniques. A large part of these conversations is listening to what they have to say and sharing experiences.
Getting your first start into a career is crucial and the more we all can support people on their journey to becoming engineers the more we will all benefit as a society.’
References:
- Reuters. US job growth beats expectations. URL: https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/us-job-growth-beats-expectations-march-wages-increase-steadily-2024-04-05/
- BCG. Addressing the engineering talent shortage. URL: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/addressing-the-engineering-talent-shortage
