Basic knowledge of engineering is more promising than pure IT studies, according to the VDI News that commissioned a survey of HR decision-makers in 120 companies. Overall, HR professionals expect significant changes in the composition of their technical workforce over the next five years. The reasons for this are topics such as digitization or even the changes happening in the car industry. Such developments require more broadly qualified professionals now. The demand for “traditional” engineers is expected to decline but still remain at a high level. In the automotive sector, a decrease of 17.4% is expected, in the electrical industry it is around 15% with regard to service providers as well as in mechanical and plant engineering.

That IT engineers are more highly sought after than ever, is also demonstrated by a survey from the Hitech-campus.de portal. The survey was about starting salaries for engineers in various industries. Nearly 13% of companies said they were looking for IT engineers, even though this was not a question on the survey. “This underscores how strongly IT is moving ahead, but will never completely replace the traditional engineer,” said author Bettina Riedel.

Overall, IT engineers are currently credited with the qualities of an all-in-one solution. According to VDI, they are ranked higher than classic engineers, whereas IT specialists lag behind them. Caution is advised: One in three HR managers interviewed stated that the cooperation of engineers and IT experts did not always run smoothly.