The ACEC Research Institute released the results of its Q3 2024 Engineering Business Sentiment Study. The report showed that optimism within the industry remains extremely high. For the first time since the Institute began its quarterly surveys, industry executives are optimistic across all market sectors for future growth.

The results were unveiled in a webinar hosted by Institute Executive Director Daphne Bryant and Senior Research Consultant Joe Bates, who led the study. Bates noted that “the engineering industry is bullish on the future, with broad optimism in the growth of critical markets and a reduction in concern over the impact of inflation and the potential for an economic slowdown.”

The Institute found that future industry sentiment is positive in all sectors for the first time and is highest in Energy and Utilities (+46), Transportation – Roads and Bridges (+42), and Transportation – Airports (+41). Concern over inflation (+48) dropped seven points since last quarter’s poll. The perceived likelihood of a recession dropped six points from one year ago.

If there is one area of concern among industry executives, it continues to be the supply of well-qualified candidates for employment. Even though seventy-one percent of respondents predict that there will be an increase in hiring over the next 12 months, seventy-eight percent see a lack of qualified workers as a barrier to growth. Nine out of 10 (89%) of firm leaders say it is difficult to find qualified engineers, while 62 percent see challenges in finding non-engineering staff.

“We’re simply not graduating enough engineers, and many of those who do graduate are international students who have difficulty staying in the country to apply the skills learned in American universities,” said Daphne Bryant, executive director of the ACEC Research Institute. “The workforce challenge remains one of the most pressing barriers to growth in our industry, which has significant implications for America’s economic growth and the future of our critical infrastructure.”

Both ACEC and the ACEC Research Institute are addressing the workforce challenge. In April, ACEC held its first Engineering and Public Works Workforce Summit with its partners, the American Public Works Association (APWA) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), which resulted in the creation of an Engineering Workforce Consortium to develop potential policy solutions to the workforce crunch. The Institute is engaged in a research project looking at the engineering “Firm of the Future” to explore what talent and skills will be needed to staff the firm of 2035.