What type of engineering is most difficult to outsource?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>My D is considering engineering major. She is not particular set on a branch. With the tendency this days to outsource in order to find a cheap labor or avoid taxes what particular branch of engineering has better chances to survive?</p>

2

<p>Engineering is not as a rule outsourced. Engineering usually don’t work remotely on projects. If you mean which engineering discipline has the best job prospects, then I would say that it is cyclical with the exception of Biomedical Engineering which really does not have good prospects for graduates with just a B.S.</p>

3

<p>When I think outsource I think about USCompanies moving its operation out. I know that normally accounting jobs can not be outsourced. Customer service is the first one to go. I think computer science can be outsourced.</p>

4

<p>I would say civil engineering is the hardest to outsource simply because the job has to be done where infrastructure is to be built. The market isn’t great for Civils right now though.</p>

5

<p>“Engineering is not as a rule outsourced. Engineering usually don’t work remotely on projects”</p>

<p>I work in consumer electronics with engineering disciplines involved being Electrical, Mechanical, Manufacturing, Computer, Software, and Human Factors. </p>

<p>10-15 years ago all the engineering work was done locally. Now we have ‘centers of expertise’ that outsource whole disciplines. </p>

<p>Considering that I am still employed I would say Human Factors Engineering, that is, the engineering that deals with the HMI (human machine interface) is the toughest to outsource because we are the first line of contact with the customer. We need to translate what the customer wants to prototypes, and so on. Also for some reason the usual hotbeds of outsourcing (China, India) have not caught on so… </p>

<p>Civil Engineering, especially someone with the PE stamp, is very useful if you can find work. </p>

<p>EE, Mechanical, and the like is relatively easier to outsource especially if stuff is made overseas to begin with. Things like Mechanical analysis like thermal, structural, etc were the first to be outsourced. Then software.</p>

6

<p>Electrical engineering with an emphasis on power systems. I don’t want to draw competitors against me, but this subfield of EE, (in California that is), isn’t taught in many universities and some of the companies that are short on supply of workers in this field are also having trouble bringing in workers from out of the country… So it’s an extremely valuable field to be in right now.</p>

7

<p>

</p>

<p>Petroleum engineering. The oil/gas fields & refining plants in the US also can’t be moved. The market is booming with the development of shale oil/gas, and the salaries are staggering. The WSJournal was reporting the petroleum engineers fresh out of college have avg starting salaries in the 90’s.
<a href=“http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2013/04/29/and-the-highest-paid-college-majors-are/”>http://blogs.wsj.com/atwork/2013/04/29/and-the-highest-paid-college-majors-are/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“http://www.spe.org/industry/docs/13SalarySurveyHighlights.pdf”>http://www.spe.org/industry/docs/13SalarySurveyHighlights.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>The oil companies also hire other engineering majors, like mechE, civil, chemical, etc., so your D doesn’t have to lock herself in the petroleum industry w a petroleum engineering degree.</p>

8

<p>Civil engineering, one has to go overseas to find work. My nephew went to Thailand for work. Jacobs Engineering hires people to go to Japan for example for civil engineering.</p>

9

<p>That’s because Jacobs is a global engineering firm and right now, Asian countries are investing more in infrastructure, not because Jacobs is sending all of their jobs overseas.</p>

10

<p>OP, as you can see from the thread, jobs where you have to be at the site are less likely to be outsourced. The flip side is you need to be open to the possibility of travel or relocation.</p>

11

<p>On top of that, keep in mind that if it can’t be outsourced, it doesn’t mean that cheap labor can’t be imported, and also keep in mind that you cannot ignore supply vs. demand. A major that can’t be outsourced still can have poor prospects.</p>

12

<p>Thank you everyone. </p>

13

<p>I didn’t mean to say Jacobs engineering outsourcing jobs overseas but rather you have to go where the jobs are.</p>