The Impact of Retiring Engineers on the Field Engineering Sector
The field engineering sector, a critical component of customer service delivery, is confronting a significant challenge: the retirement of experienced engineers and a shortage of new talent entering the field. This emerging trend has implications for OEMs, particularly as the demand for skilled field engineers grows.
Ageing Workforce in Engineering
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), nearly 25% of the engineering workforce in the United States is 55 years or older.
The situation is not unique to the US; it is a global trend. In the UK, for instance, Engineering UK’s State of Engineering 2019 report reveals that .
In comparison, in most industries, around 10-15% of the workforce may retire over a similar timeframe, depending on demographic and economic factors.
While these statistics reflect broader trends, including the ageing of the Baby Boomer generation, the engineering sector’s reliance on specialised skills makes it particularly vulnerable to a skills and experience gap.
The potential loss of these experienced professionals is particularly concerning for field engineering. These engineers possess technical skills and critical institutional knowledge accumulated over decades of hands-on experience.
As experienced technicians retire, the field engineering sector risks losing a vast reservoir of expertise essential for maintaining, repairing, and innovating within various industries. This impending knowledge drain could reduce efficiency and lead to potential service delays.
Shortage of New Engineers
Compounding the challenge of retiring engineers is slower workforce renewal. Enrolment in traditional mechanical and electrical engineering courses has steadily declined, leading to fewer qualified individuals available to replace the retiring workforce.
A reduction in qualified technicians is concerning for the field engineering sector, where the hands-on, practical skills required are becoming increasingly scarce.
The Engineering UK 2020 report underscores this issue, citing a shortfall of up to 59,000 engineers (1.05% of the total UK) engineering workforce annually in the UK to meet demand.
Increasing Demand for Field Engineers
Despite these challenges, the demand for field engineers is rising. As technology advances and industries increasingly rely on sophisticated machinery and systems, the need for skilled field engineers to maintain and repair this equipment has never been greater.
EngineeringUK’s State of Engineering 2019 report notes that between 2014 and 2024, 13 million job openings will arise across the UK economy due to those leaving the labour market, with an additional 1.8 million openings from newly created jobs. This includes significant demand in field engineering roles driven by sectors such as digital technology, green energy, and infrastructure development.
EngineeringUK’s 2023 annual report further highlights that the UK needs an estimated 203,000 people with engineering skills annually to meet this growing demand.
To put it another way, the 59,000-shortfall figure from the 2020 report serves as a baseline for understanding the severity of the skills gap, while the 2023 report underscores the increasing urgency to address it.
Knowledge and Skill Gaps
The shortage of engineers is not just a matter of numbers but also about the specific experience The gap between retiring engineers and new entrants is particularly significant in areas that demand advanced technical skills and hands-on expertise.
A 2020 report by McKinsey & Company emphasised that the skill gap in areas like automation, robotics, and advanced manufacturing could significantly slow and reduce operational efficiency in the field engineering sector.
Mentorship and knowledge transfer are becoming increasingly critical. Surveys indicate that about 60% of companies recognise the challenge posed by the skills gap, particularly in fields requiring specialised expertise such as field engineering.
Without effective mentorship programmes and strategies for transferring knowledge from retiring engineers to newer employees, this gap could widen, leading to a decline in overall industry competency and the ability to meet increasing demand.
Impact on the Field Engineering Sector
While there isn’t always a specific statistic that isolates the shortage of field engineers alone, reports and data often mention field engineering as one of the areas most affected by skill shortages due to its specialised nature and the need for practical, on-site problem-solving expertise.
To sum up
The data speaks for itself: the field engineering sector is facing a workforce challenge.
Service managers have long seen the warning signs—an ageing workforce, a decline in engineering enrolments, and increasing demand for skilled field engineers. The statistics outlined in this article confirm that these concerns are not anecdotal but are supported by clear trends in workforce demographics and engineering education. The time to plan is now.
This blog is relevant to the following Veritek industry sector verticals:
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