Getting an engineering degree has proven to be a lucrative decision for most people because of the industry’s extremely low unemployment rate. In fact, U.S. companies have been struggling with a severe shortage of engineers that can make it seem virtually impossible to remain fully staffed, especially in some parts of the country.
Experts have estimated that there’s only one qualified engineer for every 1.9 engineering jobs, so it’s not surprising that a worker shortage exists. Fortunately, one company has stepped up to make it easier for businesses to connect with available engineers.
Field Engineer is a global engineer marketplace that features more than 15,000 qualified workers. The concept is quite simple, but it has the potential to solve a major problem. In a nutshell, engineers who want to work on a freelance basis or who are looking for temporary work sign up for the marketplace. From there, companies can locate engineering assistance for short-term or long-term assignments.
National Policy Changes May Impact Global Hiring Opportunities
Because the engineering field in the U.S. is so understaffed, some companies have brought in outside assistance from a variety of countries. This may not be an option for much longer, though, and it’s already become much more difficult to jump through the necessary hoops to bring workers to America.
President Donald Trump signing Executive Order. PUBLIC DOMAIN /Wikimedia
Back in April 2017, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order that specifically targeted companies seeking technology workers. As a result, the H-1B visa program became more difficult to utilize. This further complicates matters for U.S. businesses that may have reached out to engineers in areas such as India, where workers are losing their jobs due to industry cutbacks.
President Trump’s plan was ostensibly a way to give U.S. tech workers a better shot at securing a well-paying job. It was also billed as a push to give Americans better training in the technology field. However, this may actually end up hurting U.S. businesses much more than it helps them if they’re left unable to fill all of their open positions.
Considering the fact that engineers typically have an unemployment rate that’s at least 3.5 percent lower than the national average and many open positions sit unfilled for an extended period of time, it becomes easy to see how President Trump’s executive action has the potential to harm companies. This is where Field Engineer comes in, and their innovative engineer marketplace is well-positioned to offset some of the anticipated damage.
The Power of Pre-Qualified Placements
It’s traditionally necessary to deal with a long process of finding good candidates and ensuring they’re fully qualified, even if a company needs engineering help for a short-term project that will only last a week. Field Engineer provides businesses with the invaluable ability to work with engineers who have already been pre-screened to ensure they meet certain qualifications. In other words, it’s much quicker to find the right person and get them started.
Field Engineer fills the gaps for hi-tech engineering needs. PUBLIC DOMAIN /Wikimedia
So far, Field Engineer has a marketplace of U.S. engineers that includes more than 3,000 workers between the east and west coasts. Imagine being able to tap into this whenever your business needs extra engineering help. Not only does this simplify the process but it will also help you get exactly what you need for the time frame that you need it. This is a huge advantage, and it’s a prime example of how Field Engineer has leveraged the engineering shortage to find a sweet spot for their company.
Field Engineer’s Future Role in the Engineering Industry
Field Engineer was born out of founder Malik Zakaria’s desire to fill the gaps that have been created by the national engineering shortage. The reality is that qualified freelance engineers who are happy to take on temporary jobs can fill many of these open roles, but finding them has been complicated by the massive amount of online job posting sites.
The goal of streamlining this to keep all engineers working and every business fully staffed led to the invention of an engineering marketplace. Now, companies and engineers can stop wading through a crowded sea of unrelated postings and resumes.
The simplicity of this approach is part of its brilliance; after all, building a marketplace for just one industry almost seems quaint in today’s world that’s filled with all-in-one sites such as Monster and CareerBuilder. In the long run, though, this may be exactly what makes Field Engineer a success.
The company’s approach may also revolutionize the way businesses hire temporary and permanent engineers, and this is certainly Zakaria’s goal. The founder and CEO’s computer engineering background helped him develop a platform that is accessible to company leaders and skilled workers from all engineering fields. According to Crunchbase, he was able to raise $500k in angel investments from others with the same vision, which has enabled Field Engineer to grow rapidly since 2015.
To boost his business knowledge, Zakaria is also currently enrolled at the Harvard Business School.