Rising demand for civil engineers not translating into jobs
The dire need to repair the nation’s infrastructure appears to be at cross purposes with the need to refurbish government budgets, at least in terms of the civil engineering job market.
On one hand, enrollment in the University of Missouri’s civil engineering program has gone up over the past five years, said Vellore Gopalaratnam, professor of civil and environmental engineering. “We have a fairly good placement record at this time, even though the economy is down, and our graduates are getting good jobs,” he said. “Most of our graduates are in roads, bridges, water works, transportation, those kinds of areas.”
On the other hand, the poor condition of America’s infrastructure may not be translating into more jobs for civil engineers. “Certainly we have a lot of infrastructure needs, and we will over the long term, and in the coming decades there’s going to be a strong demand for civil engineering,” said Mark Virkler, chairman of the MU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. However, tight government budgets mean that “the demand for employment is not as high as the need.”
Three years ago, 100 percent of the MU civil engineering graduates found jobs quickly, and some received multiple offers, Virkler said, but that number has dropped by 10 percent annually over the past two years. However, both companies and state governments have had to revamp their budgets in response to the economic downturn, which has led to less availability in civil engineering jobs, he said.
For instance, Virkler said Missouri’s Department of Transportation has not hired as many engineers because of lower gas tax revenues and because bonds issued years ago for highway construction are now coming due. Likewise, the U.S. Congress has not passed a new surface transportation act in years and favors continuing resolutions instead.
“Private sector investment is doing well in terms of land development and commercial structures,” Virkler said. “But most public works require the support of government and the public sector.”
The spectacular failure of the Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River at Minneapolis on Aug. 1, 2007, provided a public wakeup call about the issue, but the sinking economy soon pushed questions of infrastructure investment to the back burner. The bridge carried 140,000 vehicles a day, and its collapse during a Wednesday evening rush hour killed 13 people and injured 145.
Then the American Society of Civil Engineers sounded a general alarm two years ago about the state of the country’s roads, bridges, water utilities and other public works when it issued its 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the most up-to-date available. The report gave the country’s infrastructure an overall D grade for 15 categories of infrastructure and suggested a five-year investment of $2.2 trillion to bring the current system up to good condition.
“If we let infrastructure deteriorate further, the costs of either repairing them or replacing them are just going to get higher; there’s no doubt about that,” Gopalaratnam said. “Infrastructure is the kind of investment that will bring immediate returns, both in regard to producing jobs and increasing our economic output.”
The ASCE engineers evaluated each category according to capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety and resilience. Of the four top-graded categories, solid waste received the highest grade, a C plus; bridges received a C; and parks and rail each received C minuses. Energy received a D plus, while aviation, dams, drinking water, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, roads, schools, transit and wastewater all received a D or D minus.
Although investment in infrastructure might drive up the deficit further, the investment is absolutely necessary, Gopalaratnam said. “Without paying attention to infrastructure, we’ll pay a much bigger price down the road.”
For the public, safety is still probably the most important driver behind concerns about infrastructure. Indeed, engineering colleges need to change tactics to adapt in response to the deterioration, said Glenn Washer, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MU. Too often, he said, engineering colleges tend to teach how to design and build structures but rarely how to inspect or maintain them over time. Inspection and maintenance techniques have tended to be taught in later professional training.
“Students get more exposure now than in the past, but this area remains outside standard curriculum requirements,” Washer said.
And economic necessity is also a major concern. Investment in infrastructure is essential for the United States to remain competitive in the global economy, Gopalaratnam said. He said the United States has invested about 2 percent or less of gross domestic product during the past five years in its infrastructure, while Europe invested 5 percent, and China and India invested between 6 and 9 percent.
The global need for civil engineers is certain to continue, Virkler said. “The larger civil engineering consulting firms all have interests in countries around the world and are looking for civil engineers who are comfortable working in a different culture,” Virkler said. “We will always need engineers. To maintain a high standard of living, we need to be innovators — working smart and coming up with new ideas.”
On one hand, enrollment in the University of Missouri’s civil engineering program has gone up over the past five years, said Vellore Gopalaratnam, professor of civil and environmental engineering. “We have a fairly good placement record at this time, even though the economy is down, and our graduates are getting good jobs,” he said. “Most of our graduates are in roads, bridges, water works, transportation, those kinds of areas.”
On the other hand, the poor condition of America’s infrastructure may not be translating into more jobs for civil engineers. “Certainly we have a lot of infrastructure needs, and we will over the long term, and in the coming decades there’s going to be a strong demand for civil engineering,” said Mark Virkler, chairman of the MU Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. However, tight government budgets mean that “the demand for employment is not as high as the need.”
Three years ago, 100 percent of the MU civil engineering graduates found jobs quickly, and some received multiple offers, Virkler said, but that number has dropped by 10 percent annually over the past two years. However, both companies and state governments have had to revamp their budgets in response to the economic downturn, which has led to less availability in civil engineering jobs, he said.
For instance, Virkler said Missouri’s Department of Transportation has not hired as many engineers because of lower gas tax revenues and because bonds issued years ago for highway construction are now coming due. Likewise, the U.S. Congress has not passed a new surface transportation act in years and favors continuing resolutions instead.
“Private sector investment is doing well in terms of land development and commercial structures,” Virkler said. “But most public works require the support of government and the public sector.”
The spectacular failure of the Interstate 35 bridge over the Mississippi River at Minneapolis on Aug. 1, 2007, provided a public wakeup call about the issue, but the sinking economy soon pushed questions of infrastructure investment to the back burner. The bridge carried 140,000 vehicles a day, and its collapse during a Wednesday evening rush hour killed 13 people and injured 145.
Then the American Society of Civil Engineers sounded a general alarm two years ago about the state of the country’s roads, bridges, water utilities and other public works when it issued its 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure, the most up-to-date available. The report gave the country’s infrastructure an overall D grade for 15 categories of infrastructure and suggested a five-year investment of $2.2 trillion to bring the current system up to good condition.
“If we let infrastructure deteriorate further, the costs of either repairing them or replacing them are just going to get higher; there’s no doubt about that,” Gopalaratnam said. “Infrastructure is the kind of investment that will bring immediate returns, both in regard to producing jobs and increasing our economic output.”
The ASCE engineers evaluated each category according to capacity, condition, funding, future need, operation and maintenance, public safety and resilience. Of the four top-graded categories, solid waste received the highest grade, a C plus; bridges received a C; and parks and rail each received C minuses. Energy received a D plus, while aviation, dams, drinking water, hazardous waste, inland waterways, levees, roads, schools, transit and wastewater all received a D or D minus.
Although investment in infrastructure might drive up the deficit further, the investment is absolutely necessary, Gopalaratnam said. “Without paying attention to infrastructure, we’ll pay a much bigger price down the road.”
For the public, safety is still probably the most important driver behind concerns about infrastructure. Indeed, engineering colleges need to change tactics to adapt in response to the deterioration, said Glenn Washer, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at MU. Too often, he said, engineering colleges tend to teach how to design and build structures but rarely how to inspect or maintain them over time. Inspection and maintenance techniques have tended to be taught in later professional training.
“Students get more exposure now than in the past, but this area remains outside standard curriculum requirements,” Washer said.
And economic necessity is also a major concern. Investment in infrastructure is essential for the United States to remain competitive in the global economy, Gopalaratnam said. He said the United States has invested about 2 percent or less of gross domestic product during the past five years in its infrastructure, while Europe invested 5 percent, and China and India invested between 6 and 9 percent.
The global need for civil engineers is certain to continue, Virkler said. “The larger civil engineering consulting firms all have interests in countries around the world and are looking for civil engineers who are comfortable working in a different culture,” Virkler said. “We will always need engineers. To maintain a high standard of living, we need to be innovators — working smart and coming up with new ideas.”