RF/Microwave Engineering Job Market, June 2009
According to EngineerSalary.com, RF engineers held over 51,000 jobs in 2008, making this one of the smallest segments of the engineering community. They expect that this number will increase 8.2% by the end of 2010, and stay a fast growing segment until 2014.
Increasing number of contract-based employment is an interesting development, currently approaching about 9% of occupied RF engineers. Consulting opportunities for RF engineers are assumed to grow in conjunction with respective industry sectors.
Software defined radio skills were highlighted by EngineerSalary.com as “incredible demand” by both commercial and defense sector suppliers.
In general, defense and commercial companies are seeking experienced hands-on RF engineers and RF engineering managers. According to EngineerSalary.com, this stability is expected to last until 2015.
Current evidence indicates that the demand is mainly in the security/defense sector. Yet recruiters have reported signs of increasing demand in the wireless/telecommunications sector.
Is there a real shortage of RF engineers?
There is numerous contradicting evidence. One recent recruiter’s e-mail says, “I have a great number of RF professionals looking for work and it amazes me that I am reading about an RF shortage,” yet this very same e-mail says, “It is kind of a catch 22. I need the boards to help me find resumes but have to get placements to get money to afford the boards”. This is a very common example these days. Apparently those RF engineers knocking on their door for work don’t possess the skill sets required for the vacancies. So the answer is YES. The shortage is real for those skill sets in demand right now!
How is this explained?
RF/microwave engineering is expertise-sensitive. Electromagnetic-related engineering is not like IT, networking, programming and the like, where all industry sectors require similar skills. Microwave engineering encompasses a diverse range of expertise, each relevant in different industry sectors, while employers impose stringent requirements for hand-on experience in the specific field only.
The security sector is currently responsible for most of the demand for RF engineering skills. This places specific sets of expertise, which are in short supply while other brilliant RF engineers might be in the job market, not only defense. A handful of other sectors are active. Among these is the medical wireless (recognized among 2009 growth markets) and telecommunications (especially wireless networks), a market which is starting to show some positive signs of growing demand for design engineers.
Isaac Mendelson
ElectroMagneticCareers.com
Isaac@ElectroMagneticCareers.com
