What's Hot, What's Not

Recruiters say many parts of the engineering job market remain steady. But "green" skills are in high demand. No question, some parts of the engineering job market are hot right now. "That means anyone with experience in 'green' and sustainability industries," says Tri-Star Search recruiter Edrie Bezak in Portland, Oreg. "I could probably place people in those areas without even speaking to them." Bezak says the demand is particularly high for engineers who can certify that buildings are living up to ASHRAE environmental standards, or U.S. Green Building Council LEED ratings. Ditto for engineers with experience running and commissioning wind farms. "We are seeing people coming from Denmark to fill those positions. That goes for slots in field operations and installation, all the way to day-to-day operation of wind farms," she says. Employers are paying up for these kinds of skills. "On the west coast, the low end of the range is about $75,000 and the high end is $110,000 for mechanical or electrical engineers with green or sustainability skills," says Bezak. Also in demand are electrical engineers with experience in running utility substations and working with high voltages. "High-voltage engineers with experience are pushing the $100,000 mark," she says. Another healthy area is in radio-frequency work. "RF stuff on the west coast is in the $70,000 to $80,000 range," says Bezak. Salaries are moving up quickly for hard-to-find engineering candidates, she claims, but "for run-of-the-mill jobs, they are stagnant if not going lower," Bezak says. "There is not much going on in the semiconductor industry because so much of that industry has gone offshore. That will probably continue." In other areas demand seems to be steady, though not superheated. "A lot of areas have been flat for the last few months, probably because of anxiety about where the economy is