ENGINEERING A FUTURE
DEMAND for engineering professionals is soaring, with systems, electrical and mechanical engineers all recording more than a 30 per cent increase in job advertisements year on year.
SEEK data reveals the number of available positions for systems engineers increased by 46 per cent between 2017 and 2018, with employers offering an average advertised salary of $119,672.
Meanwhile, the number of job ads for electrical/ electronics engineers increased by 39.2 per cent, with an average advertised salary of $107,777, while ads for mechanical engineers were up 31.5 per cent and had an average advertised salary of $96,390.
The figures compare to 8.6 per cent growth in the number of advertisements across all jobs between 2017 and 2018.
Dyson personal care engineer Sam Burrows says he is not surprised by the numbers.
“Everything you see and touch and use has to be engineered in some sort of way,” he says.
“The more complex technology gets, the number of people needed to work goes up.
“It doesn’t surprise me engineers are in more demand. It’s good to see.”
Education and Training department figures show the number of people accepted into undergraduate engineering degrees also has increased, by 9.5 per cent between 2011 and 2018.
Current and recent engineering students can enter the 2019 James Dyson Award, which offers cash prizes to winners who design a problem-solving product.
Burrows, who studied mechanical engineering and has worked for Dyson for the past five years, helped to design the Supersonic hair dryer and Airwrap styler.
He says it is encouraging to see people interested in engineering. However, there are still many misconceptions around the profession. A survey from Dyson and YouGov reveals Millennials (19 per cent) are more likely than Generation X (10 per cent) and Baby Boomers (5 per cent) to have considered engineering as a career.
“A lot of people think it’s very geeky and we don’t really get out much but engineers are very much normal people – and both male and female,” Burrows says.
Entries for the James Dyson Award close on July 11. Visit jamesdysonaward.org for further information.