2021 Pulse of Engineering | GlobalSpec

2021
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..........................................................................................................................................6
Recommendations..............................................................................................................................7
Survey Results......................................................................................................................................8
Coronavirus Impact...................................................................................................................8
Work Environment...................................................................................................................11
Performance Measurement..................................................................................................15
Challenges and Competition................................................................................................ 17
Workforce Changes and Knowledge Management.......................................................21
Career Management.............................................................................................................25
About GlobalSpec............................................................................................................................30
2021 PULSE OF ENGINEERING RESEARCH REPORT
Contents
GlobalSpec.com/advertising | sales@GlobalSpec.com

Welcome to the sixth annual
Pulse of Engineering Survey
As industrial marketers already know, engineers are inquisitive by nature and dedicated to problem-solving.
They work under constant pressure. They handle multiple projects concurrently. In performing their work,
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, GlobalSpec asked engineers.
Those responding to this survey shared with us exactly how they view the pace of engineering, available
resources, knowledge management practices, performance measurement and the impact of megatrends on
their day-to-day work environments.
GlobalSpec has compiled and analyzed the survey results to help you better understand your target audience,
strengthen relationships with your customers and develop messaging and content that resonates. Insights
from these results can provide guidance in positioning your company, products and services to align more
closely with customer needs, pain points and industry trends.
Additionally, because 2020 has been a year unlike any other, GlobalSpec also surveyed how current
pandemic conditions have impacted engineers and their work.

About the Survey Respondents
The 1,010 survey respondents work for companies large and small, and across the entire engineering sector.
COMPANY SIZE
44 percent work at companies that
employ ten or fewer engineers,
37 percent for companies employing
11 to 250 engineers, and 19 percent
for companies with more than
250 engineers.
ANNUAL REVENUE
28 percent work for companies
with less than $10 million in annual
revenue; 18 percent for companies
with between $11 million and
$50 million in annual revenue;
13 percent between $51 million and
$500 million; and 19 percent at
companies with over $500 million
in revenue.
EXPERIENCE
25 percent have less than 10 years
of professional experience, while 40
percent have more than 30 years
of professional experience. There
is a great deal of experience in the
engineering workforce, with many
engineers now nearing retirement
age, and a new generation up and
coming to replace them. Over the past
year, the percent of engineers with
less than ten years of experience has
increased by 5 percentage points.
10 or less engineers
between $11 - $50 million in revenue
less than 10 years experience
less than $10 million in revenue
11 to 250 engineers
between $51 - $500 million in revenue
more than 30 years experience
250+ engineers
greater than $500 million in revenue
Between 10-30 years of experience
Other
44%
28%
22%
18%
13%
19%
37%
19%
25%
40%
35%

Highlights of Survey Results
Coronavirus Impact
• 46 percent of engineers said their department budgets decreased due to the coronavirus.
• The biggest challenges during the pandemic have been the availability of needed parts and having
to work remotely.
Work Environment
• The average design team size is 6 to 7 engineers.
• 42 percent are working on more projects than they did two years ago.
• Engineers said 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 objectives most cited for
measuring performance.
• 85 percent of the time, engineers frequently or always meet product quality and customer service/
satisfaction targets.
Challenges and Competition
• 43 percent of engineers say they are required to do more with less and 38 percent agree that the
pace of engineering is constantly increasing.
• A significant majority of engineers reported that designs are more complex/sophisticated, there
are more time-to-market pressures and design cycles are shrinking.
• The majority said the competitive landscape is global and competes 24/7, while 47 percent said
the number of competitors is growing.
Workforce Changes and Knowledge Management
• Retirement and layoffs/downsizing are the top two reasons for engineers leaving their companies.
• 58 percent of engineers said that knowledge/information loss was very important or extremely
important as employees left the company.
• Almost half of companies don’t have formal policies in place to retain and pass on institutional
knowledge.
Career Management
• Interesting work/projects, good work/life balance, and learning are the most important career
factors for engineers.
• On average, engineers stated they are only moderately likely to be employed by the same
company five years from now.
• To increase their knowledge and skills, engineers most often turn to online training courses,
webinars, colleagues/peers, books and professional development courses.
• As they mull over career changes, engineers see the need to learn financial or business
management skills as well as programming languages.

Conclusions
The coronavirus pandemic is having a measurable impact.
Virtually all industries and professions have been impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, and engineering is
no exception. Almost half of engineers have experienced departmental budget cuts. Supply chain disruptions
have caused issues around the availability of parts. Moreover, working remotely can be a struggle for
engineers who are accustomed to powerful workstations and collaborative design teams. Still, 36 percent
of engineers have not suffered from budget cuts and eight percent stated the coronavirus has led to an
increased budget. Despite tough conditions, business keeps going.
Engineers face a multitude of challenges and pressures.
In addition to the unique situation of 2020 with its coronavirus impact, engineers face a recurring set of
challenges and pressures. In terms of competition, 58 percent said that the competitive landscape is global
and competes 24/7. Regarding design pressures, 73 percent said designs are becoming more complex/
sophisticated, 64 percent said time-to-market pressures have increased and 58 percent report that design
cycles are shrinking. The majority said that their company’s productivity, innovation, and/or product quality
are constrained. The top causes of this are a shortage of specialized talent, constraints on people and/or
resources, and budgetary constraints. But engineers are a resilient, dedicated group: 85 percent said they
frequently or always meet their top performance targets of product quality and customer service/satisfaction.
A knowledge drain accompanies employee loss.
About a third of engineers stated that employee loss due to retirement or layoffs/downsizing has increased or
increased significantly over the past two years. Accompanying the employee loss has often been knowledge
loss. 58 percent of engineers stated that knowledge and/or information loss as employees left the company
was very or extremely important. Yet only 39 percent 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. The losses of specialized talent and knowledge might continue: engineers
stated they are, on average, only moderately likely to be employed at the same company five years
from now.
Engineers require quality content.
Engineersandothertechnicalprofessionalsareconstantlyseekingoutandusingcontenttohelpthemperform
better at their jobs. The leading tools to complete projects are content-heavy: technical documentation,
software and development tools, product specification data and datasheets. Content also plays an important
role in maintaining and advancing an engineer’s professional skills: popular resources include online training
courses, webinars, colleagues, books, and training courses and white papers offered by vendors.
Engineers possess a high degree of professionalism.
The most important aspects of an engineer’s career are interesting work, good work/life balance and
learning. Engineers meet customer service and product quality performance targets the vast majority of the
time. And they continue to succeed in their jobs despite facing a multitude of challenges and pressures. Hat
tip to the engineering workforce.

Recommendations
Industrial marketers can use the results of this report in many ways to benefit their marketing strategies
and to get closer to customers:
• Adjust high-level messaging. Indeed, engineers are constantly searching for technical and
educational content to help them do their jobs better, but they also need information they can trust
about your company to help reassure them during these challenging times. Because supply chain/
availability of necessary parts is the most common issue impacting engineers’ ability to complete
projects, clearly state in your marketing messages any capacity you have to expedite the delivery
of parts to your customers. Remind engineers of the stability and strength of your company, and of
your ability to support them along the way.
• 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. Customers will respond to messaging that hits their pain points.
• Use content to foster strong relationships. Content is the key to connecting with engineers and
staying connected. The 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 online training courses, webinars, and white papers.
Providing content is great, but providing detailed, technical content is even better. Also, as
industrial companies experience employee loss and its accompanying knowledge loss, make clear
to engineers that you can help fill in the gap by providing valuable content through online training
courses, webinars, and white papers.
• Update and expand your database. Engineers are on the move, with many senior engineers
retiring, other engineers changing jobs, and young engineers with less experience playing a
larger role in the workforce. Consider a campaign to help update your database and increase your
number of contacts by having engineers verify their contact information, asking them about a peer
or colleague who should know about your company and products, and encouraging engineers to
share your content such as blog posts, articles, and videos.

Survey Results
Has the coronavirus impacted your department’s budget?
46 percent of respondents said that their department budget has decreased during the coronavirus pandemic.
Only 8 percent experienced a budget increase.
Coronavirus Impact
It has caused our budget to decrease
It has not impacted the budget
Other
It has caused our budget to increase
46%
36%
10%
8%

How has the coronavius impacted your ability to complete projects? (select all that apply)
Engineers most commonly cited supply chain/availability of necessary parts (40 percent) as having an impact on
their ability to complete projects. 26 percent were impacted by working from home.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
40%
26%
22%
21%
21%
20%
12%
Supply chain issues/availability of necessary parts
Working from home
Colleagues have been furloughed or laid off
Focus has shifted to other, more pressing projects
None of the above
We have lost funding for projects
Other

What has been your biggest challenge during the coronavirus?
Aligned with the most common impact, the biggest challenge has been the availability of needed parts and
components (26 percent), followed by working remotely (22 percent).
Other
Layoffs/downsizing at my company
Availability of parts and components I need
Working Remotely
Canceled work travel
Loss of budget
26%
22%
16%
15%
11%
10%

Approximately how many engineers are employed in your company?
44 percent of respondents work in companies that employ 1 to 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?
64 percent of engineers work on design teams with five or fewer participants. On average, design team size is
6 to 7 engineers.
51-100
251-500
500+
1-10
11-25
26-50
101-250
44%
13%
11%
6%
7%
5%
14%
25-49
1-5
6-9
10-24
50+
64%
20%
10%
3% 3%

In the past two years, how have your company’s design teams and workforce changed?
42 percent said that the number of designs/projects they work on has increased or increased significantly.
29 percent said that design involvement from external partners, vendors, and customers has increased or
increased significantly.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Number of designs/
projects I work on has
Average number of
design team
participants from
different countries has
Average size of the
teams I work on has
Design involvement
from external partners,
vendors, customers,
etc., has
4%
3%
3%
3%
3%
15%
15%
16%
10%
7%
4%
4%
6%
5%
10%
24%
35%
42%
43%
56%
35%
17%
25%
17%
Decreased
Significantly
Decreased Stayed the same Increased
Increased
Significantly
Don’t Know
or N/A

Typically, how many projects are you working on concurrently?
On average, respondents are working on four projects concurrently, an average that has not changed for the past
four years.
11-20
1-2
3-4
5-10
Not applicable
43%
28%
20%
4%
5%

What are the most essential systems or tools you use today to complete your projects? (select all that apply)
Engineers use technical documentation, software and development tools, product specification data, and
datasheets as their most essential systems or tools to complete projects.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
64%
56%
45%
38%
27%
24%
18%
8%
7%
6%
6%
Technical documentation
Schematics
Product specification data
Engineering calculators
Software & development tools
Reference designs
Datasheets
Evaluation modules
Coding resources
Videos
Other

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
What target goals/objectives are used to measure your team/department performance? (select all that apply)
44 percent of respondents work in companies that employ 1-10 engineers, while 26 percent work in companies
employing more than 100 engineers.
Performance Measurement
64%
57%
35%
35%
32%
27%
15%
8%
Customer service/satisfaction
Product quality
Launch dates
Revenue targets
Product unit cost
Product development budget
Service/warranty costs
Other
What is the single most important performance target that you are pressured or incented to meet?
Customer service is the single most important performance target, chosen by 27 percent of engineers. 25 percent
said product quality is most important.
Customer service/
satisfaction
Product unit costs
Product quality Other
Launch dates
Product development
budget
Revenue targets
Service/warranty
costs
27%
25%
16%
12%
7%
6%
4% 3%

How frequently do you meet these specific targets?
More than 80 percent of engineers frequently or always meet product quality and customer service/
satisfaction targets.
Always Frequently Sometimes Infrequently Never
Don’t Know
or N/A
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
13%
17%
14%
18%
34%
16%
39%
40%
36%
28%
48%
40%
23%
18%
22%
17%
8%
22% 8%
7%
9%
9%
43%
40%
4%
5%
6%
5%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
1%
20%
19%
21%
31%
13%
Revenue Targets
Launch Dates
Product Development
Budget
Product Unit Costs
Product Quality
Service/Warranty
Costs
Customer Service/
Satisfaction

Which conditions do you believe accurately portray the situation at your company? (select all that apply)
The three statements that engineers most agree with are “We are required to do more with less” (43 percent), the
“Pace of engineering is constantly increasing” (38 percent) and “Technology is increasing productivity.”
(33 percent).
Challenges and Competition
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
43%
38%
33%
29%
28%
28%
22%
20%
19%
11%
9%
We are required to do more with less
The pace of engineering is constantly increasing
Technology is improving productivity
Pressure to cut costs is putting product quality/
rework at risk
Pressure to meet deadlines is putting product quality/
rework at risk
We lose specialized knowledge and senior expertise
faster than we gain it
New hires are being added to handle additional work,
not just to replace staff vacancies
Productivity is impacted because I have to informally
train/advise new co-workers
It is harder to tap into institutional knowldge unless
you have a mentor or internal network of contacts
Budgets are increasing
None of the above

Agree or disagree with the following statements about designs/projects.
Engineers are facing greater challenges and increased pressure in their profession. 73 percent agreed or strongly
agreed that designs are more complex/sophisticated, 64 percent agreed or strongly agreed there are more time-
to-market pressures, and 58 percent agreed or strongly agreed design cycles are shrinking.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Designs are becoming more
complex/sophisticated
There are fewer design win
opportunities
Design cycles are shrinking
There is more time-to-market
pressures
23%
13%
19%
7%
50%
45%
45%
30%
19%
24%
19%
32%
6%
16%
11%
12%
13%
3%
4%
1%
1%
1%
2%
4%
Strongly
Agree
Agree Neutral Disagree
Strongly
Disagree
Don’t Know
or N/A

Agree or disagree with the following: these constraints are jeopardizing my company’s productivity, innovation,
and/or product quality.
68 percent of engineers agreed that constraints on resources/people are jeopardizing their company’s productivity,
innovation, and/or product quality, and 65 percent cited shortages of talent/specialized knowledge as a challenge.
62 percent are challenged by project/product deadline/time constraints.
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
20%
21%
18%
10%
16%
48%
44%
39%
37%
46%
21%
19%
28%
31%
27%
7%
11%
8%
15%
1%
1%
1%
2%
1%
6%
3%
4%
6%
5%
4%
Constraints on people and/or
resources
Talent/specialized knowledge
shortage
Budgetary constraints/shortage
Project/product deadline/time
constraints
Constraints managing/accessing
information
Strongly
Agree
Strongly
Disagree
Don’t Know
or N/A

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. The only statement that the majority of engineers
agree upon is that “Our competitive landscape is global, and competes 24/7.” 47 percent agree that 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.
Competitors are quicker to adapt and
take away our business
New technologies and companies
disrupt our products/markets faster
Our competitive landscape is global,
and competes 24x7
Our technologies are relevant for a
shorter period of time
The number of competitors is growing
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
8%
8%
26%
31%
31%
31%
23%
19%
8%
8%
4%
3%
18%
11%
6%
40%
36%
34%
20%
26%
26%
11%
17%
23%
9%
8%
2%
2%
4%
7%
Strongly
Agree
Strongly
Disagree
Don’t Know
or N/A

In the past two (2) years, how has the size of your company’s engineering workforce changed?
38 percent of engineers reported that the size of their company’s engineering workforce has increased in the past
two years, while 24 percent said it has decreased.
Workforce Changes and Knowledge Management
Decreased
Increased Significantly
Increased
Stayed the Same
Decreased Significantly
33%
38%
21%
3%
5%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
In the past two (2) 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
top reasons for workforce losses have been retirement of senior employees (33 percent) and layoffs/downsizing
(30 percent). These losses elevate the importance of suppliers establishing strong relationships with a younger
generation of engineers who are taking over from those who have retired.
Loss of employees due to layoffs/
downsizing
Loss of employees to natural turnover
(Severance, quit, dismissal)
Loss of employees to competitors
Loss of senior employees to retirement
7%
3%
3%
6%
23%
17%
23%
27%
44%
53%
56%
48%
10%
8%
14%
17%
11%
12%
2%
2%
6%
6%
1%
1%
Increased
Significantly
Increased Stayed the Same Decreased
Decreased
Significantly
Don’t Know
or N/A

How important is knowledge/information loss as employees left the company?
As evidence of a knowledge drain, 58 percent of engineers said that knowledge/information loss was very
important or extremely important as employees left the company. Only 3 percent said it was not at all important.
Very important
Yes
Not at all important
Slightly important
Moderately important
Extremely important
No
Not applicable
Don’t know
26%
39%
45%
16%
38%
20%
3%
5%
8%
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?
45 percent of engineers said 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 institutional knowledge and important skills but also to the loss of knowledge
about vendor relationships.

How satisfied are you with your company’s talent and knowledge management process?
On average, engineers gave a middling 5.0 out of 10 satisfaction score for their company’s talent or knowledge
management processes, a score worse than last year (5.7) and leaving much room for improvement.
0% 5% 10% 15% 20%
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
8%
6%
14%
18%
15%
13%
7%
9%
4%
6%
Very Satisfied
Not Satisfied
Neutral

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.
Career Management
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%
Interesting work/projects
Good work/life balance
Learning
Respect
Compensation
Collaboration
Growth Potential
Autonomy/ownership over projects
Working for an industry leader
Working for myself
Other
74%
68%
56%
51%
50%
46%
44%
30%
22%
19%
7%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
Estimate how likely you are to be employed by the same company five years from now.
On average, engineers stated they are moderately likely to be employed by the same company five years from
now. Only 34 percent said they are very or completely likely to be employed at the same company five years
from now.
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: move to a different company (36 percent), retirement (30
percent) and promotion to a senior role (20 percent). As the engineering workforce gets younger, we expect more
engineers will leave their companies for a different role.
Slightly likely
Completely likely
Very likely
Moderately likely
Not likely at all
30%
36%
30%
20%
10%
4%
14%
16%
26%
14%
Move to a different company
Retirement
Promotion to a senior role
Work for the competition
Layoffs/downsizing

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 for moving to another company (39 percent).
Other
Increase compensation package
Additional opportunities
to advance
Expanded role/responsibility
39%
25%
19%
17%

If you changed jobs, what would you need to learn to upgrade your career skills? (select all that apply)
The number one skillset engineers would need to upgrade in a job change is “Financial or business management
skills,” followed by “Software development.”
0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
36%
30%
27%
26%
24%
22%
22%
21%
20%
16%
8%
Financial or business management skills
Software development
Programming languages
Communication and presentation skills
How to implement artificial intelligence
Data science
Education on new and emerging standards
such as 5G
How to design smart, connected devices
Robotics
Logistics/ supply chain management
Other

What are the four (4) most effective ways that you systematically or formally maintain, educate and advance
your professional skills?
To increase their knowledge and skills, engineers most often turn to online training courses, webinars, colleagues/
peers, books and professional development courses. 31 percent seek training provided by vendors.
0% 15% 30% 45%
Training courses offered online
Colleague/Peer-to-peer
Webinars
Books
Professional development courses
Training provided by vendors
Certification training
Training provided by
professional associations
Technical white papers by vendors
Professional development courses from
university extension programs
Industry conferences
Video
I do not have a systematic/formal method of
advancing my professional skills
43%
41%
41%
35%
34%
31%
29%
29%
28%
25%
24%
23%
16%

About GlobalSpec
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 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 GlobalSpec, visit www.globalspec.com/advertising.

For more information about GlobalSpec:
Visit: GlobalSpec.com/advertising
Call: 800.261.2052
Email: sales@GlobalSpec.com
201 Fuller Road
Suite 202
Albany, NY 12203
GlobalSpec.com/advertising

2021 Pulse of Engineering | GlobalSpec

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