Engineering The Future: Where Have All the Workers Gone?

Infrastructure is at an inflection point. Never have we needed it more, as you can’t support a healthy economy on a crumbling infrastructure. At the same time, we have an incredible workforce shortage across the entire spectrum—from bus drivers and mechanics to planners, engineers, designers and environmental scientists; from contractor labor all the way through company and agency leadership. The construction sector is roughly 10 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP) and with a large number of baby boomers at retirement age, we have a workforce crisis.

In civil engineering, we have seen a decade of flat educational enrollments across the country; as you look at the next decade, the number of high school graduates exploring this field is expected to drop by 10 to 20 percent. The pipeline is getting smaller, and it’s getting worse because the pipeline is leaking.

According to the latest study by the Society of Women Engineers, we’re losing almost 50 percent of women from the profession within five years of graduation and more than 70 percent within 15 years of graduation. During my career, the percentage of women in the field has been as high as 20 percent, but the latest numbers are at 14 percent. We’re going in the wrong direction. We will never meet the future needs of our profession if half our female workforce continues to leave their jobs at this rate. Most women engineers claim workplace culture as their reason for leaving.

Education and Cultural Needs to Support the Workforce

We need to work on ways to attract elementary and middle school students into STEM-focused programs, keep them excited throughout their high school years, and expose them to all the opportunities that exist in the construction sector. An early start is critical.

Almost 70 percent of the jobs related to infrastructure don’t require college degrees; to support this job pool, we need to create the pathways to get students into those jobs. For the 30 percent that need advanced degrees, we need to find ways to get students into two-year associate’s degree programs that then become pathways to earning a four-year degree. This is just part of the solution, however, since retention is a significant problem.

In early 2024, I had the opportunity to visit an incredible New York City public high school: Brooklyn Tech. With 6,000 students, it’s the largest high school in the United States. For those studying civil engineering, students graduate with the equivalent of an associate’s degree, which means they can achieve a bachelor’s degree in another two years. It’s a tremendous fast-track program that includes a very diverse student population. There are several other similar programs across the country, but none at this scale.

The success at Brooklyn Tech is due to a very active alumni association that raises money and has an active volunteer base. For example, American Society of Civil Engineers student chapter members mentor high school students, and those students mentor and tutor middle school students from seven feeder middle schools. The National Infrastructure Advisory Council is currently working on a report on workforce development focusing on successful programs such as this, and it’s exploring ways to duplicate these exemplar programs at scale across the United States. The report is expected to be completed in December 2024.

Employer Engagement and Dollars Needed

Employers must find a way to work with clients to raise salaries in the profession. We must stop the cycle of commoditization of the profession, where rates go down. Creative problem solving requires the best and brightest, and we will never entice and retain people if we don’t find a way to improve renumeration.

And then there’s the larger issue: workplace culture. Women and underrepresented groups need to feel like they can be their authentic selves at work. It’s clear that many construction and engineering firms are focusing on this, and, although things are getting better, we still have a long way to go. We need to see results from these proactive measures.

Employers are working on increasing compensation and gender parity. Many major firms, GHD included, have employee resource groups to give individuals a better sense of belonging. After years of remote work, attracting people back to the office is about creating great new spaces, better environments and social team-building activities. Firms are offering more time off, flexible work arrangements and perks such as student-loan repayments in exchange for a several-year commitment. Efficient personnel management needs to promote wellbeing. Overwork affects one third of workers, so maintaining a healthy work-life balance is critical to proactively prevent burnout.

Lastly, we must attend to the social fabric of younger professionals by doing more community-involvement activities. Making a difference in our communities and giving back is a very high priority for our younger professionals. I will highlight some fantastic programs that GHD has in a future column, as there are many of them.