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Yes! We asked 1000 engineers a series of questions to unravel an age-old question “Are engineers happy?”. The results were shocking to find out how many engineers actually enjoy their job, why they like it, and how likely they would recommend engineering to a younger audience who are thinking about doing engineering. So what do engineers think about their careers?
In general, engineers are very happy with their careers. We asked 1002 engineers who work in different fields and industries if they are happy with their jobs and careers as engineers. In this poll, 22% of engineers reported being happy with their job and career, while 64% reported feeling neutral about being engineers. Only 14% reported feeling unhappy, which is more likely related to the work environment than engineering as a whole.
Having people who feel neutral or unhappy about their job is quite natural. As engineering jobs are pretty challenging, which means in addition to the cool and interesting things engineers do, those tasks can be complex, which can keep many under stress. However, we can comfortably say that the highest majority of engineers actually find their job interesting and quite happy being engineers.
Because engineering jobs are quite technical and very challenging, it can sometimes mean being under constant pressure. Engineers can sometimes work very long hours, up to 10 or 12 hours a day which is probably one of the major reasons why engineers may be unhappy with their job in addition to other things.
We also did another interesting study where we asked 100 engineers how many hours they worked every day and how many hours they worked during the week. You can find the results here as it is correlated with why many engineers feel unhappy with their job: We Asked 100 Engineers How Many Hours Do They Work?
The above results do not tell us much about which type of engineers actually enjoy their jobs and who do not. Well, we got the results below.
Which Engineers Are Most Happy?
Based on the results, software engineers are the happiest engineers, followed by Mechanical engineers. In contrast, the least happy engineers are Electrical engineers, followed by Biomedical engineers. While the engineers who felt neutral about their careers were Chemical engineers, followed by Civil engineers.
The survey results:
Are You Happy As An Engineer
| Engineering Field | Number Of Engineers In The Survey | Happy | Neutral | Not Happy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Engineering | 167 | 32 (19%) | 113 (68%) | 22 (13%) |
| Mechanical Engineering | 167 | 45 (27%) | 99 (59%) | 23 (14%) |
| Electrical Engineering | 167 | 30 (18%) | 107 (64%) | 30 (18%) |
| Chemical Engineering | 167 | 28 (17%) | 119 (71%) | 20 (12%) |
| Biomedical Engineering | 167 | 36 (22%) | 104 (62%) | 27 (16%) |
| Software Engineering | 167 | 46 (28%) | 103 (62%) | 18 (11%) |
To find out which are the happiest engineers and get the most accurate results, we asked the same amount of engineers from the major engineering fields:
- Civil Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Biomedical Engineering
- Software Engineering
Because of the many branches within every major engineering field, we grouped those branches into the main major field as the work nature is somehow the same, and it can give us an average happiness level within every field.
To try to explain why Software engineers are the happiest engineers because software engineers’ salaries are the highest. The world’s best engineering companies are tech companies that require many software engineers. This high demand for software engineers and the variety of options to work at the most successful tech companies might have created this high level of satisfaction. You can learn more about the pay gap difference between the different engineering fields here.
On the other hand, the reason why Electrical engineers are the most unhappy is that electrical engineering, by far, is considered the most complicated engineering field compared with the other fields, which might have created a high level of dissatisfaction.
What Is The Most Exciting Engineering Job?
Happiness might be influenced by how cool the job is, we wanted to find out how many engineers would consider staying in their job or doing a different engineering degree if they had the time and the chance to work in another field.
The results were very close. Surprisingly 52% of the engineers who participated in the survey considered working in a different industry, while 42% of the engineers considered staying in the same field.
The 52% of engineers who considered working in a different engineering industry were asked what other engineering degree they would do if they had the choice?
Most have considered working as software engineers, Mechanical engineers and Civil Engineers.
Most engineers who decided to work in different fields were Chemical, Biomedical, and Electrical engineers. In contrast, the majority of Software and Mechanical engineers decided to stay in the same field. See the results below:
Would You Stay In Your Engineering Field Or Do A Different Field?
| Engineering Field | Number Of Engineers In The Survey | Stay In The Same Field | Work In A Different Field |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Engineering | 167 | 77 (46%) | 90 (54%) |
| Mechanical Engineering | 167 | 92 (55%) | 75 (45%) |
| Electrical Engineering | 167 | 72 (43%) | 95 (57%) |
| Chemical Engineering | 167 | 63 (38%) | 104 (62%) |
| Biomedical Engineering | 167 | 72 (43%) | 95 (57%) |
| Software Engineering | 167 | 105 (63%) | 62 (37%) |
The results were consistent with the earlier results and show a cool factor involved when considering which engineering degree to do.
It seems to be that software and mechanical engineering are the most sought-after fields. Tech is growing rapidly every year, which explains why most engineers would find it an attractive field. While Mechanical engineering is one of the oldest engineering fields and has many career options and work opportunities.
Civil engineers are very neutral about their job as there are many work opportunities and career options but less innovation in that space. Electrical engineering can be a complicated field which explains why the majority would consider other fields. Finally, the majority of Biomedical and Chemical engineering would consider other fields because there are fewer work opportunities and career options but a high level of innovation.
In general, all engineering fields can be difficult and also rewarding financially and intellectually. For those who are trying to pick their engineering field and trying to make their decision based on others’ opinions, it is not a healthy way of making a decision. If you are trying to make a decision, you should check our guide on What Engineering Degree Should I Do? for a better way to make the right decision.
Despite the above, would engineers recommend their fields to others? Find out below.
Would engineers recommend engineering to others as a career path?
The final question in the survey was whether engineers would recommend engineering to others as a career path.
The majority of the participants were very positive, as 68% would recommend engineering as a career choice while only 32% would not.
Although many engineers may not be happy with all the aspects of their jobs which is quite normal for any job, they would still recommend engineering to others and their engineering field.
Mechanical engineers, Software engineers and Civil engineers are the most engineers who have recommended their engineering field as a career choice.
See results:
Would Engineers Recommend Engineering To Others?
| Engineering Field | Number Of Engineers In The Survey | YES | NO |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civil Engineering | 167 | 129 (77%) | 38 (23%) |
| Mechanical Engineering | 167 | 147 (88%) | 20 (12%) |
| Electrical Engineering | 167 | 104 (62%) | 63 (38%) |
| Chemical Engineering | 167 | 92 (55%) | 75 (45%) |
| Biomedical Engineering | 167 | 78 (47%) | 89 (53%) |
| Software Engineering | 167 | 132 (79%) | 35 (21%) |
Therefore, engineering is still one of the best options based on this survey, as the majority recorded a high level of satisfaction.
If you are looking for more reading on this matter? Check out Is An Engineering Degree Still Worth It?
Are engineers well respected? What do people think?
Above, we have covered in detail what engineers think of their careers and themselves as engineers.
The overall feedback from this online survey proves that most engineers are happy and satisfied with their job and would recommend engineering to others as a career choice.
Finally, if you are considering engineering as a career choice or want to read more about this topic, you should check one of our weirdest surveys where we asked people what they think of engineers: What People Think Of Engineers? Expectations Vs Reality.
