Poll: Number of HW engineers entering the industry YOY

Oct 8, 2021 11 Comments

Curious to understand the current trend in demand and supply of HW (EE, ECE, CE) engineers in the industry.
Most of the folks I know are in SW. Even my classmates and friends with Bachelors degree in HW in India are working in SW in US after pursuing MS in CS.
Are there not enough HW opportunities or has everyone lost interest in HW or it's just the money factor?


Tc: 200K

#hardware #semiconductor #tech #software #money #google #qualcomm #nvidia #apple #texasinstruments #nvidia #siliconvalley #facebook #samsung #intel #ibm #fairchild


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TOP 11 Comments
  • IBM
    Fakibm

    Go to company page IBM

    Fakibm
    Hw is hard and pays less, with much less growth than sw.
    If they already switched to sw they're smart.
    Oct 8, 2021 0
  • Both HW and SW have their respective challenges. However, it's a fact that HW requires a great deal more industry experience for many domains. For tool jockey roles (STA, PV, PnR, etc) probably not but anything close to silicon or design yes. When you combine long training and experience with lower pay relative to SW the migration out of HW is obvious. The fact is that over the past 15 years the number of HW graduates have dropped by 75% while SW graduates have tripled. With the current focus on custom silicon the demand increase is real and the disconnect with supply will eventually force wages up. The trend is already happening but there's still a gap. A good benchmark is Apple which pays close to top of market for HW but also does lots of SW. Base is close but initial RSU and refreshers are still different. If the current trend continues I would expect the gap might disappear in the next decade. Yes, pay disparity takes a while to close as employers will fight any wage increase with legal and illegal tactics.
    Oct 8, 2021 2
  • Teradyne / Eng
    bay-money

    Go to company page Teradyne Eng

    bay-money
    I personally already see the shift coming in. Things are changing.
    Oct 8, 2021 2
    • OP
      Can you please elaborate on the change you are seeing? Thanks :)
      Oct 8, 2021
    • Teradyne / Eng
      bay-money

      Go to company page Teradyne Eng

      bay-money
      Look at the top tier asic fpga companies at present. Intel - Qualcomm have started paying better. You can ask employees who have been working there for more than 4-5 years and check with new hires. You will see the difference. As far as work is concerned, there is no doubt it is a challenging arena where not many thrive.
      Oct 8, 2021
  • New / Finance
    rushryedge

    New Finance

    rushryedge
    Why are you posting this under finance. Pls fix
    Oct 8, 2021 1
  • Dassault Systemes / Sales
    lskh81

    Go to company page Dassault Systemes Sales

    lskh81
    I think the paradigm shift is coming towards evening out the pay gap. The issue is that most CS majors are very different from CE majors. The CS is preferred and has nothing to do with chip architecture
    Oct 8, 2021 0