Engineering positions that are most crisis-resistant

Production and process engineers, automation and robotic engineers, electrical specialists and electrical engineers, programmers and testers, and supply chain management engineers are the specialties most resistant to economic crises, according to the latest data from Bergman Engineering.

The report “Competences 4.0” shows that specialists in the labor market and industry can now be divided into two groups, depending on the form of performed duties. The first group includes people who carry out creative tasks that require an individualized approach, most often related to technology management. On the other hand, the second group consists of employees who perform routine work. According to Cedefop’s analysis, by 2025 the decline in employment will affect the latter group. In addition to industrial workers, they also include skilled farm workers, clerks and salesmen.

On the other hand, the group of emerging professions will continue to grow.

– It will mainly concern engineering professions and specialists from the private business, administration, ICT and research sectors. Also, digital skills in the strict sense, related to working in the environment of digital applications and tools, will constitute the basis for development for people working in all emerging professions – says Tomasz Szpikowski, President of Bergman Engineering.

TOP 5 engineering positions that are the most crisis-resistant

While the pandemic caused a turmoil in the labor market, Bergman Engineering observes that engineering specializations are extremely resistant to economic crises. It is also a sector where a large increase in employment is to take place – in Poland the employment of engineers is to increase by 20%, in Europe – by 12%.

• Production / process engineer in industrial technology departments (especially in sectors such as FMCG and pharmacy). – Our data shows that the fight for the candidate continues until the end. As many as 80% of candidates who wanted to move to another company in recent months received counter-offers from their employers – explains Tomasz Szpikowski.
• Automation and robotics in the maintenance department (especially in the FMCG and pharmacy industries). According to Bergman Engineering data, the growth in recruiting for this type of position has increased by 50% in recent years.
• Electrical specialist and electrical engineer – Only in the last year, the increase in inquiries for the recruitment of specialists in this area reached 200%. There are so few experts of this type on the labor market that their position is practically “untouchable” – explains Szpikowski.
• Programmer and tester, especially in e-commerce. The data show that the demand for these employees increased by 150% over the last year.
• Logistics and buyer responsible for supply chain management. The analysis of Mazars, Noerr and SpotData shows that the Polish e-commerce market in 2020 was worth PLN 70 billion. After many years of growth at a rate of over a dozen percent annually, the period of the COVID-19 epidemic brought about a three-fold acceleration (to 43 percent y/y). – Some of this extraordinary growth will be temporary. However, we estimate that even after the epidemic is over, e-commerce sales will still be approx. 10-20 percent. higher than in the market development scenario without the impact of COVID-19 – adds Tomasz Szpikowski.

In addition, the observation of the Devire recruitment company shows that the progressive automation of production plants will result in an increase in the demand for highly specialized positions. It is about people who combine competences from various areas, including: automation, electronics and IT. Already today, companies are constantly looking for employees such as: automation specialists, engineers, maintenance specialists and electrical technicians.

– The main reason is the continuous and dynamic development of modern technologies and their wider application in many sectors. As you know, the costs associated with automation processes pay off relatively quickly and more and more companies are deciding to implement production automation investments. After the implementation of robotic production stations, the structure of the employed personnel changes, the number of unskilled workers decreases – sums up Tomasz Szpikowski.