In the 2000s and 2010s, if you weren’t coding, it seemed like you’d get left behind. The number of Computer Science majors exploded, while degree programs like Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering shrunk, on a relative basis.
Now we’re beginning to see a crucial shift into jobs that make the latest advancements in AI usable in complex hardware contexts. Amid the push to reshore manufacturing; the mass retirement of skilled workers across unsexy industries like water treatment, commercial HVAC, and oil and gas; and the rise of autonomy across defense, enterprise, and consumer applications, we’re seeing a renaissance in technical disciplines that cross the hardware-software chasm. These are the new Jobs of the Future.
In particular, I expect that 2025 will see accelerated demand for: electrical engineers, controls engineers, mechanical and mechatronics engineers, manufacturing engineers, RF engineers, industrial engineers, test engineers, quality engineers, and high-skilled technicians/robotic teleoperators of all types. The growth in some of these sectors may even outpace that of “traditional” software engineering over the next decade. The robots are coming — someone will have to build, train, and service them.