IEEE GlobalSpec Announces Results of Fifth Annual Pulse of Engineering Survey

ALBANY, N.Y., Oct. 2, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- IEEE GlobalSpec, a provider of data-driven industrial marketing solutions designed to help companies promote their products and grow their businesses, today announced the results of its fifth annual Pulse of Engineering Survey. The findings provide several perspectives from the minds of over two thousand engineers across the entire engineering sector, on topics such as the pace of engineering, available resources, challenges, competition, their career path, and more. The complete research results are available for download here.

"At IEEE GlobalSpec, we pride ourselves on giving industrial marketers the insight they need to better understand our audience of engineers and other technical professionals," said Pete Hoelscher, Acting Chief Executive Officer of IEEE GlobalSpec. "That's exactly why each year through this survey, we seek to understand what's going on in the complex mind of the engineer, ultimately giving marketers what they need to strengthen relationships with customers, develop messaging and content that resonates, and position their company, products, and services to align more closely with customer needs, pain points, and industry trends."

Key findings from the study include:

    --  Engineers face many challenges - 71 percent of engineers say that
        constraints on people and/or resources are jeopardizing their company's
        productivity, innovation, and/or product quality; 70 percent say a
        shortage of talent/specialized knowledge is doing the same. Adding to
        the pressure, 63 percent report their company's engineering workforce
        has stayed the same or decreased over the past two years, and half of
        engineers say they are required to do more with less.
    --  These professionals are resilient - Despite being under increased
        pressure, engineers are a dedicated group and meet their top performance
        targets of product quality and customer service/satisfaction 85 percent
        and 82 percent of the time, respectively.
    --  Quality content is essential - Engineers are constantly seeking out and
        using content and information to help them perform better at their jobs.
        Three of their four leading tools to complete projects are content:
        technical documentation, product specification data, and datasheets.
        Content also plays an important role in maintaining and advancing
        professional skills; popular resources for engineers include books,
        online training courses, training courses offered by vendors, white
        papers, and webinars.
    --  The millennial engineer stays optimistic - Although more millennial
        engineers than veteran engineers say the pace of engineering is
        constantly increasing, younger professionals seem more optimistic. They
        are more driven than their older colleagues by a good work/life balance
        (67 percent compared to 60 percent), growth potential (57 percent
        compared to 35 percent), and learning (64 percent compared to 57
        percent). They are also more likely to report that budgets are
        increasing and their companies are hiring, while they are less likely to
        state that pressure to cut costs or meet deadlines is putting product
        quality/rework at risk, that they are required to do more with less, or
        that they are losing senior expertise faster than they are gaining it.
    --  Institutional knowledge walks out the door - 61 percent of engineers
        stated that knowledge and/or information loss as employees left the
        company was very or extremely important. Yet less than half of companies
        have formal practices in place to identify senior-level and specialized
        experts to train, transfer, mentor, manage or retain their knowledge
        among others in the organization. Adding to the challenge of retaining
        institutional knowledge, 40 percent of companies are experiencing an
        increase in the loss of senior employees to retirement, and engineers
        are on average only moderately likely to be employed at the same company
        five years from now.

The 2,180 survey respondents, taken from a pool of both Engineering360.com registered users and IEEE Spectrum subscribers, work for companies large and small, and across the entire the engineering sector. 44 percent work at companies that employ ten or fewer engineers, 35 percent for companies employing 11-250 engineers, and 21 percent for companies with more than 250 engineers. Respondents are most commonly design engineers (23 percent), followed by those who work in engineering consulting, research and development, and process/production.

To learn more, download the full research report or the 2019 Pulse of Engineering infographic.

About IEEE GlobalSpec
IEEE GlobalSpec is a community built by engineers, for engineers - delivering the single source for trusted, expert engineering content, information, insight, tools and community for engineers and technical professionals across multiple industries and disciplines. An engaged community of more than 8 million industry professionals rely on IEEE GlobalSpec as a trusted resource at every stage of the research, product design, and purchasing process. For industrial marketers, our mission is to provide comprehensive digital media solutions that connect manufacturers, distributors and service providers with engineers and allied technical professionals and generate unparalleled results - delivering measurable and actionable awareness, demand and engagement opportunities at all stages of the buy cycle. Learn more at www.globalspec.com.

About IEEE
IEEE is the largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice in a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers, and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power, and consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org.

Contact:
Amber Cooleen
Senior Director, Marketing and Content
518.238.6647
E-mail: amber.cooleen@IEEEGlobalSpec.com

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SOURCE IEEE GlobalSpec