2024 Firm Personnel Changes

[RPGs]

As we approach 2025, I am hugely curious to see how your structurally-inclined (or otherwise, feel free to join in) engineering firms have changed in the last year. Also looking to hear your stories about your journey in the profession, your thoughts, advice, and any significant moves in your firm in terms of business strategies? Switching firms? Starting out on your own?

If you'd like to participate in a format, here's how I'm picturing it breaks down (with my current US employer as an example). By indicating a (+/-_) you are including that individual in the total.

Engineers (by experience and by license (EIT/PE/SE) if you want):
>25 years = 0 (-1 in 2024)
15 - 25 years = 1 PE (+0 in 2024)
9 - 14 years = 2 PE (+0 in 2024)
4 - 8 years = 2 EIT, 1 PE (+1 PE in 2024)
0 - 3 years = 1 EIT (+0 in 2024)

Draftsmen/women/BIM = 1 part time (+1 in 2024)

Field Technicians/Testers = 2 (+0 in 2024)

Administration/Office Staff = 1 (+1 in 2024)

Insert here comments, stories, words of wisdom or advice for others? Thanks and looking forward to anything you want to contribute.

 

[rowingengineer]

This post sound very HR/recruitment, might be better moving this to one of the soft forums.

 

[RPGs]

Oh--my apologies. Not my intent at all.
There was a thread identical to this a year ago and I hugely enjoyed the discussion and learned a lot myself. I didn't realize it might be inappropriate. I think you're right though that this may not be the right forum and I'll report it to be removed.

 

[phamENG]

This post sound very HR/recruitment, might be better moving this to one of the soft forums.

I see what you mean, but ultimately disagree. The structural engineers hang out here, and this is a question about structural engineering firms. the 'soft' forums are frequented by lots of people who work in different industries and with business models most of us would never recognize. This is probably the best place to get the best traffic.

Don't have much to add. Still a one man show here. This year, things are still really busy, but also somehow slower. It's strange and difficult to describe.

 

[Lomarandil]

Agreed w Pham, I'd love to see this for the subset of structural firms. Old thread for reference


Engineers (by experience and by license):
>25 years = 1 (no change)
15 - 25 years = 2 PE, 1 SE (-1 SE in 2024)
9 - 14 years = 1 PE, 1 SE (no change)
4 - 8 years = 4 PE (-1 PE in 2024)
0 - 3 years = 2 EIT (-1 EIT in 2024)

Draftsmen/women/BIM = 1 (+1 in 2024)

Field Technicians/Testers = 0 (no change)

Administration/Office Staff = 3 (+1 in 2024)

Trying to convince ownership that we need to seriously invest in recruiting (also getting closer to median salary) or we'll keep bleeding our young and mid-level engineers. Starting to get some traction there, but I'm not entirely confident we'll do better than replacement level.

 

[HDStructural]

Engineers (by experience and by license):
>25 years = 4 PE (no change)
15 - 25 years = 0 (no change)
9 - 14 years = 2 PE, 2 SE (+1 PE in 2024)
4 - 8 years = 3 PE (no change)
0 - 3 years = 2 EIT (+1 EIT in 2024)

Draftsmen/women/BIM = 3 (no change)

Field Technicians/Testers = 0 (no change)

 

[DigiAlmond]

I don't work for a particularly big firm

Engineers (by experience and by license):
>25 years = 1 PE (no change)
15 - 25 years = 0 (no change)
9 - 14 years = 3 PE (no change)
4 - 8 years = 1 PE (no change)
0 - 3 years = 5 EIT (+2 EIT in 2024)

Draftsmen/women/BIM = 0 (no change)

Field Technicians/Testers = 0 (no change)

Seeing the other answers here is interesting. Definitely seems like we're making up for our lack of drafts people in the form of fresh graduates. I had a hunch that this was the case but I wasn't sure. The quality of fresh graduates drafting capabilities drives me crazy, but I think a lot of the time it's not their fault - they haven't tried to read enough plans to know what they should be doing. I keep pushing to have at least one person be the keeper of standard practice (i.e. a BIM technician to help the 'vision' of a drawing set), but management either isn't interested or they are a lot harder to hire than I think.

 

[lexpatrie]

Back when i worked at fairly large firms (2000 to 2017) they all had technicians doing the drafting.

A typical EIT just doesn't even know what to show let alone how to draw it. Seems atypical and what are the going to put down for experience when they go for the principles and practice exams, if they spend 75% of their time making squiggly lines straight?

 

[phamENG]

seems like we're making up for our lack of drafts people in the form of fresh graduates.

I fully support this...to a point. As an intern, I spent a large portion of my time running a CAD rig. I learned quite a bit. I think every EIT should be "loaned" to the drafting department/team/person for at least a few months. Maybe not all at once, maybe for only part of their day - whatever works for your company's structure. It's important that an engineer have a full grasp of the entire process - from conception, to analysis, to drafting, to construction; and everything in between. And without knowing firsthand what the drafting team is doing, that's often a very big hole in an engineer's knowledge. And, if teamed with a good designer (not just a convert pencil lines to polylines drafter, but somebody who knows how a building goes together), they can often learn more about detailing in that time than they can sitting with a senior engineer.