In Hiring, Speed is of the Essence Potential job seekers are feeling more comfortable with the direction of the economy. It goes to reason those who have been in “survival mode” will start looking for new positions.

1. Increasing Salaries – Here to
Stay
Over the last decade, we’ve seen a marked increase in demand for candidates in the electronics,
embedded, and controls development fields. At the same time, the pool of available candidates
has shrunk. There were a lot of questions about the effects of Covid on these trends, and in 2021
we’ve seen a further acceleration of both.
THE CANDIDATE-DRIVEN JOB MARKET
The result is a candidate-driven market, with engineers getting higher salaries, more generous
benefits (such as unlimited vacation time), remote work options, and aggressive sign-on bonuses.
We’ve seen this play out in our recent recruiting efforts. Examples include:
 A Systems Engineer received a $90K offer; an increase to her current
compensation. The interview had been delayed a couple weeks, and in that time
she was able to line up 6 interviews, getting a total of 5 offers. One of them was a
lead-level position for $120K, which she accepted.
 We had a client interview a candidate for a critical position. They were interested
in him, and made an offer for $115K.. In the meantime, an out-of-state company
offered him $140K, which he took.
Companies who were “wowing” candidates a couple years ago are falling behind competitors in
2021

2. A LONG-TERM ISSUE
The question is whether this is a short or long-term trend. After extensive research, including
feedback from other recruiters in our networks, we believe there’s no sign of this letting up.
In the next decade:
 The growth of engineering and computing positions is predicted to range
between 5-13%.
 There will be more people leaving the job market than entering.
Covid has shrunk the number of engineers coming to the United States. Since they make up a
large percentage of STEM graduates, especially at the graduate
 The reduced number of foreign students in the college pipeline will exacerbate
the situation for years.
 Without an overhaul, the immigration system will continue to fall behind. As
mentioned, demand keeps growing but visa numbers stay static.

3. In summary, demand will continue to rise with no signs of supply getting better. The US
Department of Defense has even identified the software developer shortage as a threat to national
security.
Because of this, we can expect salaries to continue their upward climb. How much is an open
question, but there’s no sign employers can expect relief on the topic.
For 30+ years, PRA USA has helped our clients and candidates navigate the ever-changing job
market in the fields of Electronics, Embedded, and Controls Systems. Contact us to discuss your
recruiting headaches, so we can help you find a solution