With all the current economic activity, especially in the manufacturing/industrial sector, I asked myself, “what are the top five states now hiring engineers and who are the most likely employers?” I also considered what areas of specialty or engineering discipline were in the most demand and what sort of average salaries can be expected. Opportunities for recruiters abound for the placement of engineers! As noted in previous articles, much of this activity is due to the business-friendly policies and reshoring initiatives of the present administration. Reduced regulations, rapid expensing of capital investment, tariff-driven incentives for foreign investment, and a healthy and growing economy all contribute to a surge in demand for engineers. This article gives a brief recap of what I found.
The table below summarizes the top five states for engineering recruiting:
State Engineering Discipline Approx. Salary* Likely Employers
Texas Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, $100k-160k Lockheed Martin, SpaceX, RTX,
Industrial, Chemical, Petroleum Samsung, TI, Jacobs
Aerospace, Data Center, MEP
California Electrical, Computer Hardware, $120k-175k SpaceX, Apple, NVIDIA, Tesla,
Mechanical, Aerospace, Civil, Northrop Grumman
Semiconductor, Manufacturing
Michigan Mechanical, Industrial, Electrical $95k-125k GM, Ford, Stellantis, BorgWarner,
Manufacturing, Automotive, Magna
Controls/Automation
Virginia Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, $105k-145k Northrop Grumman, Amazon,
Data Center, Systems, MEP, Gen. Dynamics, Dom. Energy,
Aerospace/Defense Microsoft
Florida Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, $95k-135k Lockheed Martin, L3Harris,
Aerospace, Systems, Defense Northrop Grumman, RTX,
Blue Origin, SpaceX
*The salaries can vary widely depending on the engineering discipline, experience levels, security clearance, location, and other factors.
So, recruiters should consider focusing their attention on four major clusters of engineering activity:
Data Centers – Electrical, Mechanical, MEP (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing), Power, Controls, Commissioning, and Construction/Project Engineers
Manufacturing/ Semiconductors – Electrical, Mechanical, Industrial, Process, Controls, Automation, and Facilities Engineers.
Defense/Aerospace/Space – Aerospace, Mechanical, Electrical, Systems, RF (Radio Frequency), Avionics, Manufacturing, and Quality Engineers.
Infrastructure – Civil, Structural, Transportation, MEP, Water/Wastewater, and Environmental Engineers.
Many large engineering projects create demand for contract engineers and project-based technical personnel. The firms listed above have direct staff but also rely heavily on outside engineering firms and contract hires. Search out candidates and match them up to the contractors or subcontractors likely to be doing the work. Do some research into firms being awarded contracts for design, construction or operations and be prepared to offer candidates when the need arises.
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