By Teresa Carroll, Kelly Engineering Resources

Today’s engineering market is very different from what it was a decade ago and current industry trends allude to more changes to come. A fluctuating economy, a large number of impending retirements and a shrinking talent pool have caused many industry analysts to forecast an engineering labor shortage.

Over the next decade, engineering jobs are projected to increase at a rate of 44 percent. In 2005, U.S. universities graduated 76,000 engineering students, which was 11 percent fewer than in 1985. On top of that, today’s engineers don’t always stay in their original career choice. Approximately 17 percent of all engineers get advanced or secondary degrees in fields other than engineering, making them highly marketable in business and other sectors.

In the simplest analysis, if no engineers retired, the number of graduates stayed constant over the next 10 years and all of them were hired into engineering jobs, engineering firms would still face a significant labor shortage.

So what can you do to meet that challenge? The short answer is to expect a shortage and prepare for it. Fine-tuning your human resources strategies can help you locate and maintain the best-qualified engineers without compromising staffing levels or productivity.

Recruitment: A Constant Companion

The concept of recruitment can no longer be perceived as a discrete activity relegated to specific times of need. Think of recruitment as a continual process, one that needs to change and evolve along with the needs of your company. Knowing where to look for the best candidates and how to recruit this talent will help streamline the overall hiring process.

With all engineering companies vying for a decreased labor pool of experienced workers as well as newly-minted graduates, companies need to court talent beyond the “traditional” engineering labor pool. Consider the following to help expand your current recruiting sources:

• Tap into your seasoned workforce. Consider encouraging current employees to stay longer by enhancing their job responsibilities or rehire those who may have retired. Many engineers are willing to transition into consultative positions or prefer to work on a contract basis instead of retiring completely.
• Ensure that you are reaching a diverse pool of qualified applicants, including women, minority groups and mature workers. The wider the net, the greater chance you will have for bringing in a better catch.
• Target candidates with associate degrees in engineering and other technology graduates. Two of the top three highest-demand associate degrees are technology- and engineering-related degrees.
• Work with a recruitment firm, especially those with engineering expertise. They’ve got the contacts, the experience and the infrastructure to assist with locating and evaluating suitable candidates. They can serve as a consultant to help evaluate a company’s current workforce and create strategies for attracting and retaining the talent required to best meet their long-term goals and objectives.

New Hiring Paradigms

Where recruiting requires vigilance, hiring requires agility. Time is of the essence when hiring. This may seem implausible because many companies say it takes twice as long to fill engineering positions as it did several years ago. Hiring managers also want to wait for the candidate who has the exact combination of attributes they seek.

However, in today’s fluid labor pool positions need to be filled before qualified candidates have a chance to move on to another opportunity. From reviewing resumes to extending job offers, the process needs to become more streamlined and nimble.

• Establish hiring priorities that will enable your company to focus on what’s important. If your organization has multiple positions to staff, work with your leadership team to identify which are the most critical. This will help your recruitment efforts by allowing a more efficient targeted search versus jumping from one position to the next.
• Understand how your target audiences are searching for jobs. Increasingly, candidates are exposed to and/or search for jobs through search engines versus the major on-line job boards. Ensure your jobs are accessible to the public via career pages or profiles. Also, consider posting job openings to specialty niche sites if you are looking for candidates with specific skill sets.
• Attitude and aptitude go a long way in today’s work environment. Identify candidates who can offer 75 percent of what your organization needs. These candidates are more likely to show a greater sense of loyalty to organizations who invest in them. This will help in retaining employees for long-term employment.

Employee recruitment is part of fiscal stewardship. The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that the base cost of replacing one employee represents 30 percent of that person’s salary. The ante is much higher for engineering positions. Knowing what attracts and keeps employees in their jobs is key to containing recruitment and retention costs. But selecting the right hire is as important as filling someone’s seat.

The United States is heading into a period of much lower unemployment and much more drastic skills shortages. Strategic shifts in your recruitment paradigm-while staying true to corporate standards-will help ensure that you attract the right person who can fill your needs today and several years from now.

Author: Teresa E. Carroll is vice president of Kelly Engineering Resources, a service line of Kelly Services Inc. that specializes in engineering workforce solutions.