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03.10
Environmental Engineering Poised
for Growth in United States
By John R. Platt
Times are tight and traditional
electrical engineering jobs are becoming
scarcer. But some specialties are doing better
than others, and one area you might consider to
maximize your future job potential is
environmental engineering, according to Laurence
Shatkin, author of the new book, 200 Best
Jobs for Renewing America (JIST Publishing,
2009). In fact, of the "green" careers with the
highest job growth listed in Shatkin's book,
environmental engineers took the top slot.
"I am very bullish on
engineering careers, and environmental engineers
have a particularly promising outlook right
now," says Shatkin, who spoke to Today's
Engineer from his New Jersey office.
In his book, Shatkin cites
research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor
Statistics (BLS) which foresaw a 25.4 percent
increase in environmental engineering jobs over
the ten years from 2006 to 2016. That's not bad
at all, but Shatkin says the actual prospects
are even better. "The outlook for environmental
engineers has actually improved since I wrote
the book," he says. "The BLS now projects 30.6%
growth between 2008 and 2018." This translates
to an additional 16,600 environmental
engineering jobs expected to be created in the
United States during that decade.
Meanwhile, the BLS predicts
around 11 percent growth predicted overall for
engineering jobs, and just 2 percent for
electrical engineers.
According to the BLS, changes in
business models will spur the need for
environmental engineers, causing the field to
grow faster than the average growth for all
other occupations. As the BLS reports, "More
environmental engineers will be needed to help
companies comply with environmental regulations
and to develop methods of cleaning up
environmental hazards. A shift in emphasis
toward preventing problems rather than
controlling those which already exist, as well
as increasing public health concerns resulting
from population growth, also are expected to
spur demand for environmental engineers."
"The nation is starting to pay
greater attention to environmental issues,” says
Shatkin, who says politics play a role in part
of this growth, starting with an administration
that is more active in enforcing environmental
regulations.
But how will this growth
translate into actual jobs? "The BLS expects
that the largest area of growth will be in
technical consulting services," says Shatkin.
"85 percent growth is projected for that sector.
Another specialization with high growth, 37
percent, will be waste treatment and disposal."
Within traditional engineering
specialties, computing and software engineers
will continue to be in high demand, says Shatkin.
"One high-growth industry, with 42 percent
growth projected, is computer systems design and
related services. Many environmental engineering
jobs will focus on developing computer systems
to model future environmental impacts and
cleanup projects, and also to monitor and assess
present environmental conditions," he says.
Engineers with environmental
specialties will not only find that their job
prospects improve, so may their salaries;
although, as of May 2008, environmental
engineers still earn about $12,000 less per year
than electrical engineers. ($74,000 vs. $82,100
when comparing median salaries.)
Environmental engineering also
attracts a more gender-balanced workforce.
According to a December 2008 IEEE Spectrum
article, women represent as many as half of
environmental engineering students.
According to Shatkin, all of the
top green fields he discusses in his book are
full of engineering specialties. Industrial
engineer jobs are expected to rise more than 20
percent, geoscience jobs will rise 21.9 percent,
and other jobs for environmental scientists and
specialists will go up more than 25 percent.
With BLS predicting a meager 1.6
percent job growth in the electrical engineering
field over the next ten years, and a
slower-than-hoped-for economic recovery,
environmental engineering seems may be an
attractive career option.
John R. Platt is a freelance writer from coastal Maine. He is a frequent
contributor to Today's Engineer, and writes the Extinction Countdown blog for
Scientific American.
http://www.john-platt.com
Comments may be submitted to
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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