Statistics
The Engineers Australia statistics page provides information and analysis on the structure and nature of the engineering profession. For detailed information on the profession refer to the statistical overviews or for answers to popular questions see the FAQs.
The Engineering Profession - A Statistical Overview
The statistical overview of the engineering profession in Australia assembles a range of statistics from a variety of official and other sources to assist policy analysis, development and planning on matters involving engineering.
State and Territory editions are also available in 2011:
Earlier publications:
Frequently Asked Questions
The following are frequently asked questions about the engineering profession:
1. What is the engineering team?
2. How many engineers does Australia have?
3. Is the number of engineers in Australia increasing?
4. Does Australia have a shortage of qualified engineers?
5. Does Australia train enough engineers to meet its needs?
6. The Australian population is aging. How is this likely to affect engineers?
1. What is the engineering team?
The engineering team in Australia comprises three groups:
- Professional engineers
- Engineering technologists
- Engineering associates
To qualify for the engineering team, individuals must have formal educational qualifications in engineering and must undertake continuing professional development to ensure their training remains up to date.
The educational qualifications required are:
- Professional engineers, at least the equivalent of a four year full time bachelors degree in engineering.
- Engineering technologist, at least the equivalent of a three year full time bachelors degree in engineering.
Engineering associate, at least the equivalent of a two year full time associate degree or a diploma or advanced diploma in engineering.
2. How many engineers does Australia have?
In 2010 Australia had an engineering labour force, or supply of engineers, of 366,600. The demand for engineers, or employment was 352,900 and the unutilised supply of engineers, or unemployment was 13,700. The unemployment rate measures the relationship of unutilised to total supply of engineers and was 3.7%.
- This count includes all individuals who have a higher degree, postgraduate diploma or certificate, bachelors degree or diploma or advanced diploma in engineering.
- The count includes individuals in the conventional working ages of 15 to 64 years and is from a supplement to the ABS Labour Force Survey, the main source of statistics for labour market policy in Australia.
Not everyone who has an accepted engineering qualification practices as an engineer. Engineering studies equip students to analyse complex situations, solve quantitative problems and to find practical solutions to problems that have not been solved before. These skills are highly prized by employers across the board and not just in engineering. In a labour market like Australia’s, individuals respond to a wide range of incentives, making decisions that suite their circumstances. This means that some individuals with engineering qualifications choose to work in non-engineering jobs.
3. Is the number of engineers in Australia increasing?
This is a question about the supply of engineers in Australia.
Yes, there has been a large increase in the number of engineers in Australia during the last decade. Since 2001 the supply of engineers, as measured by the engineering labour force, has increased by an annual average of 4.8%.
The supply of engineers grew from 242,200 in 2001 to 366,600 in 2010, an overall increase of 124,400, or over 51%.
The supply of engineers has grown much faster than overall labour supply during the past decade. Australia’s labour supply expanded by just over 18% between 2001 and 2010, growing by an annual average of 1.9%.
4. Does Australia have a shortage of qualified engineers?
Yes, but because engineering is so diverse and engineers work in all sectors of the economy, a statistical response is not straight forward.
In a strict analytical sense, engineering shortages occur when the demand for engineers exceeds available supply.
In 2010, the demand for qualified engineers, as measured by employment, was 352,900.
The supply of qualified engineers, as measured by the engineering labour force, was 366,600.
There were 13,700 qualified engineers unemployed so that the unemployment rate was 3.7%.
The engineering unemployment rate in 2010 was much lower than the general unemployment rate in the Australia labour market but higher than the very low unemployment rate of 2.4% experienced before the onset of the Global Financial Crisis (GFC). Low unemployment rates are normally indicative of frictional unemployment, that is, the short periods of formal unemployment that occurs between when a person quits one job and starts the next.
But unemployment rates do not tell the whole story because engineering skills shortages are multi-dimensional. The demand for, and supply of, engineers are both segmented by location, by engineering specialisations and by type and degree of work experience.
Engineers Australia uses survey statistics to supplement demand and supply statistics to understand these issues:
- In 2010, the resource States of WA and Queensland were experiencing significant difficulties recruiting skilled engineers.
- Recruiting difficulties were also experienced in NSW and, to a lesser degree, in Victoria.
- All engineering specialisations experienced some recruiting difficulties, but the difficulties were particularly high for civil engineers, followed by mechanical engineers.
- The greatest recruiting difficulties were experienced in finding engineers level 3 (average ages in mid to upper 30’s and work experience averaging 14 to 17 years).
5. Does Australia train enough engineers to meet its needs?
The short answer is no.
Since 2006, an average of about 9,500 newly trained engineers completed university and TAFE courses in engineering. In 2009, the latest year for which statistics are available, there were 9,493 and comprised:
- 5,384 new professional engineers
- 518 new engineering technologists, and
- 3,591 new engineering associates.
Each year some engineers retire from the engineering labour force. Precise statistics on how many are not available, but approximate indicators suggest the number is about 4,500 to 6,000 each year.
So on average Australia trains 9,500 engineers each year and loses 4,500 to retirements for an average net increase of about 5,000.
But over the last decade, the additional demand for engineers has averaged 13,000 each year and it has been as high as 22,000.
The shortfall has been made up in several ways:
- The labour force participation rate for engineers is exceptionally high and in 2010 was over 90%, four percentage points higher than non-engineering skills and twelve percentage points higher than the general labour force.
- Full time employment is very high in the engineering labour force and part time employment is very low.
- Permanent skilled migration of engineers has been very high. It was at record levels in 2009 and 2010 despite the Global Financial Crisis and yet after an initial unemployment shock in 2009, unemployment rates fell again in 2010.
6. The Australian population is aging. How is this likely to affect engineers?
The Australian Treasury’s Intergenerational Reports have projected that the age structure of the Australian population will become older in coming decades. There have been no formal examinations of what these projections mean for specific occupational groups or professions. However, some indicators are available.
In the 2006 census, the average age of the engineering labour force was 41.9 years (42.5 years for men and 36.6 years for women).
The average age for comparable non-engineering skills (with the same level of qualifications) was 40.3 years (41.9 years for men and 40.3 years for women).
Survey evidence shows that the average age of engineers has increased from 38.7 years in 1997 to 42.0 years in 2010. Average age was at its highest in 2008 and was 42.4 years. (The survey evidence shows an average age of 42.1 years in the census year 2006, very close to the census outcome).
Projecting the future is notoriously difficult and is not attempted here.
Some indications of how the engineering labour force may change are as follows:
- There are fewer young people (15 to 34 years) in the engineering labour force than is the case in comparable non-engineering skills (30.9% compared to 36.8%).
- There are more older people (55 years and older) in the engineering labour force than in comparable non-engineering skills (16.2% compared to 13.4%).
- Although skilled migration favours younger people, in engineering skilled migration is not a recent phenomenon and the overseas born engineering labour force has fewer young people and more older people than the Australian born engineering labour force (younger group 26.7% compared to 34.4% respectively and older group 17.1% compared to 15.4% respectively). Since the census skilled migration has favoured large numbers of younger engineers.
