Where the jobs are

When it comes to hiring, the technology industry is encouraging based on a study of 752 IEEE members figures. Looking back two years past, 31.1% of 482 respondents reported they had seen increases in R&D staff at their organizations, 32% reported steady staffing levels and 25.9% reported drops. In the next 12 months, of 492 respondents, 33.3% predicted increases in R&D staffing at their organizations, 37.2% reported no change and 15.2% predicted declines. The area that the respondents would recommend engineering student interested in R&D career, Biomedical and Wireless/Mobile technologies got the highest votes, while storage and consumer computers tied the last place. The study indicated that there is a balance between geographical areas where R&D jobs might be going. In terms of outsourcing, Asia is number one, with 39.1% plumping for India followed by China at 32.6%. The US came in third, with 28.3%. Overall, the Number 1 reason for offshore R&D is lower labor costs.