2019 Pulse of Engineering | IEEE GlobalSpec

2019
PULSE OF
ENGINEERING
SURVEY
GlobalSpec.com/advertising
How the Engineering Work
Environment is Changing

Welcome.......................................................................................................................................3
About the Survey Respondents..............................................................................................4
Highlights of Survey Results....................................................................................................5
Conclusions................................................................................................................................. 7
Recommendations.....................................................................................................................8
Survey Results.............................................................................................................................9
About IEEE GlobalSpec......................................................................................................... 29
IEEE GLOBALSPEC
2019 PULSE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH REPORT
Contents
GlobalSpec.com/advertising | sales@IEEEGlobalSpec.com

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Welcome
Welcome to the fifth annual Pulse of Engineering Survey. As all industrial marketers know, engineers
are inquisitive by nature and dedicated to problem solving. They work under constant pressure.
They handle multiple projects concurrently. They seek information from vendors to help them do
their jobs better and more efficiently.
What’s going on in the complex world of the engineer’s mind? To find out, IEEE GlobalSpec asked
them. Engineers responding to this survey shared with us exactly how they view the pace of
engineering, available resources, challenges, competition, their career path, and more.
This research report is designed to help you better understand your target audience, giving you
the insight you need to strengthen relationships with your customers, develop messaging and
content that resonates, and position your company, products, and services to align more closely
with customer needs, pain points, and industry trends.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
About the Survey Respondents
The 2,180 survey respondents, taken from a pool of both Engineering360.com registered users
and IEEE Spectrum subscribers, work for companies large and small, across the entire engineering
sector. Forty-four percent work at companies that employ 10 or fewer engineers, 35 percent
for companies employing 11–250 engineers, and 21 percent for companies with more than 250
engineers.
Other characteristics of the survey respondents include:
• Thirty-eight percent work for companies with less than $10 million in annual revenue and
23 percent for companies with over $500 million in annual revenue. Forty-three percent of
millennial engineers work at companies with revenue below $10 million.
• Thirteen percent work in engineering/tech design services, eight percent in aerospace/
defense, seven percent in automotive, six percent in general manufacturing, and six percent
in industrial machinery/tools & equipment.
• Respondents are most commonly design engineers (23 percent), followed by those who
work in engineering consulting, research and development, and process/production.
• Twenty-six percent are team leads/supervisors, 26 percent are individual contributors, and
24 percent are managers/senior managers.
• Fifteen percent have nine or fewer years of professional experience. In this report, we refer
to this group as millennials. Forty-nine percent of respondents have more than 30 years of
professional experience and 21 percent have been in the engineering field for 20-29 years.
These percentages indicate a great deal of experience in the engineering workforce, with
many engineers now nearing retirement age, and a new generation up and coming.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Highlights of Survey Results
Work Environment
• Sixty-five percent of engineers work on design teams of five or fewer participants.
• On average, engineers are working on between three and five projects concurrently.
• Engineers say their leading tools for completing projects are technical documentation,
software and development tools, product specification data, and datasheets.
Performance Measurement
• Product quality and customer service/satisfaction are the two target goals/objectives most
cited for measuring performance.
• Customer service has become increasingly important as a performance target.
• Engineers are most likely to meet product quality performance targets.
Challenges and Competition
• Overall, respondents indicate that the pace of engineering is constantly increasing, they are
required to do more with less, and technology is improving productivity.
• A significant majority of engineers report that designs are more complex/sophisticated,
there are more time-to-market pressures, and design cycles are shrinking.
• Many state that constraints on people and/or resources and a shortage of talent/specialized
knowledge are jeopardizing productivity, innovation, and/or product quality.
• The competitive landscape is global and competes 24/7. The number of competitors is
growing.
Knowledge Management
• Forty percent of respondents state that loss of senior employees to retirement has increased.
• Knowledge and information loss is a growing concern within the engineering community, and
almost half of respondents state that their company doesn’t have formal policies in place to
retain knowledge.
• The majority of engineers are willing to register on a website for access to specific documents,
but few are willing to pay for premium content.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Career Management
• Interesting work/projects, good work/life balance, and learning are the most important career
factors for engineers.
• Fewer engineers than in the past expect to be at their current position in five years. Top
reasons include retirement, moving to a different company, and promotion to a senior role.
• Engineers use colleagues, books, online training courses, webinars, and trainings offered by
vendors to maintain and advance their professional skills.
• As they mull career changes, engineers see the need to learn programing languages,
business management skills, and software development.
Millennials
• A greater percentage of millennials work for smaller companies than do more seasoned
engineers, and millennials tend to work in smaller design teams.
• Millennial engineers are driven more by a good work/life balance, learning, and growth
potential.
• More millennials believe that the pace of engineering is constantly increasing.
• Millennials are more likely to report increasing budgets and new hires in their companies, and
are less likely to report that cost cutting pressure is affecting their products.
• Millennials say it is harder to tap into institutional knowledge without a mentor or an internal
network of contacts. However, fewer state that their company loses specialized knowledge
and senior expertise faster than they can gain it.
• Millennials are less willing than other engineers to register on a website for access to specific
documents and they are more likely to believe all content should be free and open access.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Conclusions
Engineers face challenges on multiple fronts.
Seventy-one percent of engineers say that constraints on people and/or resources are jeopardizing
their company’s productivity, innovation, and/or product quality; 70 percent say a shortage of talent/
specialized knowledge is doing the same. The majority also say that designs are becoming more
complex/sophisticated, design cycles are shrinking, and there is more time-to-market pressure.
Adding to the pressure, 63 percent report their company’s engineering workforce has stayed the
same or decreased over the past two years, and half of engineers say they are required to do more
with less. Regardless, engineers are a resilient, dedicated group: they meet their top performance
targets of product quality and customer service/satisfaction 85 percent and 82 percent of the time,
respectively.
Engineers rely on quality content.
Engineers are constantly seeking out and using content and information to help them perform
better at their jobs. Three of their four leading tools to complete projects are content: technical
documentation, product specification data, and datasheets (the fourth is software and development
tools). Content also plays an important role in maintaining and advancing professional skills:
popular resources include books, online training courses, training courses offered by vendors,
white papers, and webinars. Younger engineers are more likely than their older colleagues to rely
on video as an information source.
Younger engineers demonstrate optimism.
Although more millennial engineers than veteran engineers say the pace of engineering is
constantly increasing, younger professionals seem more optimistic. They are more driven than
their older colleagues by a good work/life balance, growth potential, and learning. They are more
likely to report that budgets are increasing and their companies are hiring, while they are less likely
to state that pressure to cut costs or meet deadlines is putting product quality/rework at risk, that
they are required to do more with less, or that they are losing senior expertise faster than they are
gaining it.
When employees leave, institutional knowledge leaves with them.
Sixty-one percent of engineers stated that knowledge and/or information loss as employees
left the company was very or extremely important. Yet less than half of companies have formal
practices in place to identify senior-level and specialized experts to train, transfer, mentor, manage
or retain their knowledge among others in the organization. Millennial engineers find it harder to
tap into institutional knowledge without a mentor or network of contacts. Adding to the challenge
of retaining institutional knowledge, 40 percent of companies are experiencing an increase in the
loss of senior employees to retirement, and engineers are on average only moderately likely to be
employed at the same company five years from now.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Recommendations
Industrial marketers can use the results of this report in a number of ways to benefit their marketing
strategies and to get closer to customers:
• Get to know millennial engineers. A younger generation of engineers is rising to prominence
in the industrial sector, and this group has its own attitudes and preferences. Get to know
them better in order to connect with and be relevant to them. For example, they are more
driven by learning opportunities than their more seasoned colleagues. What can you teach
them that they don’t yet know? They’re more likely to watch videos than they are to attend
webinars in order to increase their professional skills. Is video a component of your content
marketing? They are more likely to believe the pace of engineering is constantly increasing.
Slow things down for them by sharing “timeless” educational information or positioning your
offerings as long-lasting. They are more likely to believe all information should be free and
open access. Think twice before you charge for premium content.
• Help alleviate the pressure on engineers. Every day, engineers are dealing with highly
competitive markets, resource constraints, shrinking design cycles and time-to-market
pressures. Step in and help alleviate these pressures by showing how your solutions can
help customers rise above competitors, shorten design cycles, speed products to market
faster or otherwise gain efficiencies. When you hit your customers’ pain points, they will
respond to your messaging.
• Keep the content flowing. Content is the key to connecting with engineers and staying
connected. Research shows that engineers use technical documentation, product
specification data, and datasheets as key tools to complete projects. They maintain and
advance their professional skills using content such as books, online training courses,
webinars, and white papers. Almost all engineers make use of product specification data,
technical documentation, and datasheets. Few engineers feel overwhelmed by the amount
of information. It seems the more the better, and the more technical and detailed the better
as well. Take note, however, that while the majority of engineers are willing to register on a
website for access to specific documents, which gives you their contact information, a much
lower percentage are willing to pay for premium content, and younger engineers in particular
are more likely to believe all content should be free and open access.
• Make it easy for engineers to access your content. As much as engineers crave deep
technical content that helps them do their jobs better, they won’t jump through complicated
hoops to access it. Establish processes to get the content into engineers’ hands and to
demonstrate its value to them. The majority are willing to register on your website for
access, but make your forms intuitive and simple, and make sure what you’re hiding behind
the gate is worth registering for—such as content and knowledge they can’t find anywhere
else. On registration forms, ask for only the bare minimum of information you need to
establish a communication channel, such as name, company, and email address. As you build
the relationship, you can fill in the rest.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Survey Results
Approximately how many engineers are employed in your company?
Forty-four percent of respondents work in companies that employ 1-10 engineers, while 26 percent work in
companies employing more than 100 engineers.
Work Environment
What is the average size of the design teams in which you work?
Sixty-five percent of engineers work on design teams with five or fewer participants.
Approximately how many engineers are employed in your company?
What is the average size of the design teams in which you work?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Typically, how many projects are you working on concurrently?
Forty-four percent of engineers are working on 3-5 projects concurrently, while 26 percent are working on six or
more.
What are the three most essential systems or tools you use today to complete your projects?
Engineers use technical documentation, software and development tools, product specification data, and
datasheets to complete projects.
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Design kits
Videos
Other
Coding resources
Evaluation modules
Engineering calculators
Reference designs
Schematics
Datasheets
Product speciﬁcation data
Software & development tools
Technical documentation 68%
57%
40%
37%
30%
23%
16%
7%
6%
6%
5%
4%
Typically, how many projects are you working on concurrently?
What are the three most essential systems or tools you use today to
complete your projects?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
What target goals/objectives are used to measure your team/department performance?
Product quality and customer service/satisfaction are the two target goals/objectives most cited for measuring
performance, followed by launch dates and product unit cost.
Performance Measurement
What is the single most important performance target that you are pressured or incented to meet?
Since 2014, customer service has become increasingly more important as performance target, with launch dates
becoming less important.
What target goals/objectives are used to measure
your team/department performance?
What is the single most important performance target
that you are pressured or incented to meet?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
How frequently do you meet these specific targets?
Engineers are most likely to meet product quality targets, followed by customer satisfaction goals and launch
dates.
0 10 20 30 40 50
D
A
F
S
I
NCustomer Service/
Satisfaction
Service/
Warranty Costs
Product Development
Budget
Product
Quality
Launch
Dates
Product
Unit Costs
Revenue
Targets
2%
6%
26%
36%
10%
20%
1%
5%
23%
39%
13%
19%
2%
9%
26%
38%
16%
9%
1%
2%
8%
45%
40%
4%
2%
7%
27%
33%
13%
18%
2%
4%
18%
30%
15%
31%
0%
1%
10%
48%
34%
7%
NeverInfrequentlySometimesFrequentlyAlwaysDon’t know or N/A
How frequently do you meet these specific targets?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Which conditions do you believe accurately portray the situation at your company?
The majority of engineers agree that the “Pace of engineering is constantly increasing” (52 percent) and half
agree “We are required to do more with less.” Only 22 percent agree that budgets are increasing.
Millennials are more likely than seasoned engineers to agree that the pace of engineering is increasing, budgets
are increasing, and that it is harder to tap into institutional knowledge unless you have a mentor or internal network
of contacts. They are less likely to say that the pressure to cut costs is putting product quality/rework at risk.
Challenges and Competition
Which conditions do you believe accurately portray the situation at your company?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Agree or disagree with the following statements about designs/projects.
Engineers are facing greater challenges and increased pressure in their profession. Seventy-eight percent agree
or strongly agree that designs are more complex/sophisticated, 67 percent agree or strongly agree there are
more time-to-market pressures, and 63 percent agree or strongly agree design cycles are shrinking.
Agree or disagree with the following statements about designs/projects.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Agree or disagree with the following: these constraints are jeopardizing my company’s productivity, innovation,
and/or product quality.
Seventy-one percent of engineers agree that constraints on resources/people are jeopardizing their company’s
productivity, innovation and/or product quality, and 70 percent cited shortages of talent/specialized knowledge as
a challenge. Sixty-six percent are challenged by project/product deadline/time constraints.
1%
6%
20%
50%
21%
2%
1%
9%
17%
48%
22%
3%
1%
7%
25%
46%
18%
3%
1%
6%
24%
47%
19%
3%
2%
16%
32%
36%
10%
4%
17%
28%
29%
12%
5%
9%
0 10 20 30 40 50
Don't Know or N/A Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree
Constraints bridging race/gender/
age/cultural context differences
Constraints managing/accessing information
Project/product deadline/time constraints
Budgetary constraints/shortage
Talent/specialized knowledge shortage
Constraints on people and/or resources
Agree or disagree with the following: these constraints are jeopardizing my
company’s productivity, innovation, and/or product quality.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Agree or disagree with the following statements about how the competitive landscape for your product/
market is evolving.
Engineers are highly aware of the competitive marketplace. Sixty-two percent agree or strongly agree the
competitive landscape is global and competes 24/7; 58 percent said the number of competitors is growing. As we
have seen over the years, the Internet makes it easier for new suppliers to disrupt the market, level the playing
field among suppliers, and provide engineers exposure to more companies to buy from.
Agree or disagree with the following statements about how the competitive
landscape for your product/market is evolving.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
In the past two years, how has the size of your company’s engineering workforce changed?
Thirty-seven percent of engineers report that the size of their company’s engineering workforce has increased,
while another 40 percent said it has remained stable. These percentages are about the same for both millennial
and seasoned engineers.
Workforce Changes and Knowledge Management
In the past two years, how has the size of your company’s
engineering workforce changed?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
In the past two years, how have employee losses in your company’s workforce changed?
Loss of employees is an issue for many companies with engineering workforces. Over the past two years,
the reasons for workforce losses have varied. One reason that stands out is that 40 percent are experiencing
increased losses of senior employees to retirement. This elevates the importance of suppliers establishing strong
relationships with a younger generation of engineers.
4%
12%
44%
15%
4%
21%
3%
4%
38%
6%
1%
48%
1%
5%
47%
24%
3%
20%
1%
5%
54%
26%
4%
10%
1%
5%
42%
33%
7%
12%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Don't know or N/A
Increased
Significantly
Increased Stayed the Same Decreased
Decreased
Significantly
Loss of senior employees to retirement
Loss of employees to natural turnover
(severance, quit, dismissal)
Loss of employees to competitors
Loss of employees due to visa expirations
or temporary workers
Loss of employees due to layoffs/downsizing
In the past two years, how have employee losses
in your company’s workforce changed?
4%
12%
44%
15%
4%
21%
3%
4%
38%
6%
1%
48%
1%
5%
47%
24%
3%
20%
1%
5%
54%
26%
4%
10%
1%
5%
42%
33%
7%
12%
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Don't know or N/A
Increased
Significantly
Increased Stayed the Same Decreased
Decreased
Significantly
Loss of senior employees to retirement
Loss of employees to natural turnover
(severance, quit, dismissal)
Loss of employees to competitors
Loss of employees due to visa expirations
or temporary workers
Loss of employees due to layoffs/downsizing

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
How important is knowledge/information loss as employees left the company?
As evidence of a knowledge drain, 61 percent of engineers said that knowledge/information loss was very
important or extremely important as employees left the company. Only four percent said it was not at all important.
How important is knowledge/information loss as employees left the company?
Does your company have formal practices in place to identify senior-level and specialized experts to train,
transfer, mentor, manage or retain their knowledge among others in the organization?
Almost half (49 percent) of engineers report that their companies have no formal practices in place to identify
senior-level and specialized experts to train, transfer, mentor, manage, or retain their knowledge among others
in the organization. This leads not only to the loss of important skills, but also to the loss of knowledge of vendor
relationships.
Does your company have formal practices in place to identify senior-level and
specialized experts to train, transfer, mentor, manage or retain their knowledge
among others in the organization?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
How satisfied are you with your company’s talent and knowledge management process? (1 = not satisfied at
all; 10 = completely satisfied)
On average, engineers gave a 5.7 out of 10 satisfaction score for their company’s talent or knowledge management
processes, a score slightly better than last year but still leaving much room for improvement.
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
18%
15%
12%
10%
9%
6%
6%
5%
5%
15%
How satisfied are you with your company’s talent and knowledge management
process? (1 = not satisfied at all; 10 = completely satisfied)

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Regarding content such as research and technical documentation, which of the following statements do you
agree with?
Fifty-five percent of engineers are willing to register on a website for access to technical documents. Less than 20
percent are willing to pay for access to premium content, marking a steady decline over the past few years. More
millennial engineers believe that all content should be free and open access.
Regarding content such as research and technical documentation,
which of the following statements do you agree with?
Regarding content such as research and technical documentation,
which of the following statements do you agree with?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
What are the most important factors in your career? (select all that apply)
Interesting work/projects, good work/life balance, and learning are the most important career factors for engineers.
Millennials are more driven by good work/life balance, growth potential, and learning than are engineers with ten
or more years of professional experience.
Career Management

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
Estimate how likely you are to be employed by the same company five years from now.
On average, engineers state they are moderately likely to be employed by the same company five years from now,
which shows a slight trend down from three years ago. Only 35 percent say they are very or completely likely to
be employed at the same company five years from now.
Estimate how likely you are to be employed by the same company five years from now.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
If you were to leave your current role, what do you anticipate would be the primary reason?
The top three reasons to leave their current role are: retirement (40 percent), move to a different company (24
percent), and promotion to a senior role (16 percent). Retirement as a reason for leaving has gone up ten percentage
points in the past year alone.
The number one reason for millennials to leave their current role is to move to another company (44 percent), as
younger engineers tend to change jobs more often that older ones do. Also, millennials more often expect to be
promoted to a senior role (28 percent).

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
If you were to consider moving to another company, please indicate what would be the likely primary reason.
An increased compensation package is the top reason engineers state for moving to another company (38
percent).
If you were to consider moving to another company, please indicate what would be
the likely primary reason.

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
If you changed jobs, what would you need to learn to upgrade your career skills? (Select all that apply)
For experienced engineers, the number one skill they would need to upgrade in a job change is programming
languages. For millennials, number one is financial or business management skills. Millennials also want to improve
their robotics skills and their ability to design smart, connected devices.
If you changed jobs, what would you need to learn to upgrade your career skills?
(Select all that apply)

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
What are the four most effective ways that you systematically or formally maintain, educate and advance your
professional skills?
To increase their knowledge and skills, engineers most often rely on colleagues, books, online training courses,
webinars, and trainings offered by vendors. Compared to other age groups, millennials find colleagues and video
more important for maintaining and advancing their professional skills.
What are the four most effective ways that you systematically or formally maintain,
educate and advance your professional skills?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
What are the four most effective ways that you systematically or formally maintain,
educate and advance your professional skills?

IEEE GLOBALSPEC
About IEEE GlobalSpec
IEEE GlobalSpec is a provider of data-driven industrial marketing solutions designed to help
companies promote their products and grow their businesses.
Our audience of engineers and technical professionals relies on the IEEE GlobalSpec family of
brands as trusted resources for content, community and engagement at all stages of the research,
design and purchasing process.
We deliver deep industry intelligence, customized marketing programs and measurable campaign
performance.
For more information about IEEE GlobalSpec, visit www.globalspec.com/advertising.

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