In the Race for Talent, Research Uncovers Low Job Satisfaction Among Engineers

• Actalent Provides Answers to How Employers Can Boost Satisfaction and Engagement

Actalent, a leading engineering and sciences services and talent solutions company, has published survey research that reveals the most critical factors impacting the satisfaction and engagement of engineers in the workplace. The results of the report, “Engineering Better Employment: What Engineers Want in a Career Isn’t What They’re Getting,” found large gaps between what employees identified as most important to them and the extent to which they receive it. As the U.S. continues to experience low labor force participation and record-high quit rates, experts are urging companies to respond accordingly or risk losing their workforce.

“By finding the most important drivers of engineers’ work satisfaction and engagement, we hope to not only inform employers on what engineers are looking for in a career, but also encourage more business leaders to become cultural role models,” said John Flanigan, vice president of strategic operations at Actalent. “As the talent deficit continues to widen, companies can expect demand from employees to rise as they seek a personalized experience. We’re already seeing a shift from engagement to personalization. Whereas engagement used to be at the top of the toolkit, now leaders need to think about personalizing their employees’ experiences in 2022, or risk losing talent.”

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Actalent worked with MDRG, a market research firm, to survey 600 engineers across several industries. The in-depth surveys asked respondents to rate the importance of 23 factors and report on how well their employers were delivering on them.

The analysis revealed the following top three takeaways:

• Engineers are not experiencing many of the factors they identified as important to satisfaction and engagement, leading to a significant “engagement gap” — a delta between what engineers want and what they’re getting.
• Eight of the ten factors engineers identified as most important to satisfaction and engagement were directly related to the involvement of a manager in their growth and success.
• Consultant/contractual engineers reported overall higher feelings of satisfaction (76 percent) than their full-time counterparts (63 percent).

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“Strengthening the connection between managers and employees is one of the most important keys to solving disengagement and turnover,” said Bryan Toffey, vice president of talent at Actalent. “It’s a simple concept—employees are happier when their managers are just as invested in their success as they are—yet we often see companies struggle with the day-to-day management of their teams when work starts to pile up. But that’s our sweet spot. We can help managers take care of their teams in ways that matter most so the burden is lessened and companies can focus on completing the important work at hand.”

Actalent’s most recent labor market data shows that employees continue to have significant leverage in the job market. Attrition remains high while job openings continue to outpace the number of available workers to fill them, forcing employers to work harder to find and retain the talent they need.

“Companies are turning to higher pay as a lever to get talent through the door, but to be successful long term, they must focus on improving their employee value proposition and empowering managers to personalize its application,” continued Flanigan. “If they can commit to becoming more educated on the needs of the individual, then it’s entirely possible to create a diverse and engaging environment where everyone wins.”

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