Hiring of mechanical engineers ramping up in US.

New York, NY – According to an online staffing analysis firm, WANTED Analytics, the demand for mechanical engineers, south of the border, is heating up. During February, more than 9,000 job ads were placed online for mechanical engineers in the United States.

Hiring demand for engineers to design and build engines, machines, and other equipment is approaching levels seen prior to the downturn in 2008. The volume of job ads increased 10 percent year-over-year growth from February 2011. That’s also a 87 percent increase compared to 2010, and more than 65 percent versus 2009.

WANTED’s monthly report (pdf) states that, mechanical engineers are most demanded in the Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston metropolitan areas. The motor vehicle and parts manufacturing industries in Detroit increased their hiring demand by 56 percent compared to last year. Many of the mechanical engineering job ads in this area were for candidates that can further design and build electric and hybrid vehicle components.

Despite growth in this sector, overall demand for Mechanical Engineers in Detroit declined about 9 percent compared to February 2011. Boston also saw the volume of job ads decrease about 22 percent. Employers in Houston increased their volume of job ads the most of these 5 cities, with 26 percent more ads than last year. Los Angeles and Chicago also saw growth in demand.

According to Wanted Analytics, the talent pool of mechanical engineers remains limited and, as hiring demand continues, companies sourcing for these jobs are likely to find them difficult-to-fill. Despite seeing a decline in hiring demand, the company’s Hiring Scale index shows that recruiters in Detroit are currently experiencing some of the most challenging conditions when recruiting candidates with these skills.

In comparison, the hiring scale also shows that the best markets for recruiting these skills are Las Vegas; Ogden, Utah; and Huntsville, Alabama. Lower hiring demand in these areas, coupled with larger talent supply, means that recruiters are likely to fill job openings in as few as four weeks, about two weeks faster than the national average.
www.wantedanalytics.com