This is a year many people won't soon forget. The United States was struggling to recover from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and fighting a war in Afghanistan when a series of corporate accounting scandals at Enron, Arthur Andersen, WorldCom and others shook investor confidence and rocked the stock market. Not long after, engineering unemployment grew to record levels as the U.S. economy hovered in and near recession. Meanwhile, there was escalating violence in the Middle East.

One by one the crises unfolded this year, and one by one engineers who responded to the 2002 "Salary & Opinion Survey" spoke their minds on issues ranging from the nation's antiterrorism efforts to the weak U.S. economy. Their opinions ran the gamut from blaming rogue chief executives for the failing economy to decrying the erosion of basic American freedoms in the name of national security.

Like the rest of the nation, readers had opinions about how the Bush administration handled its response to the attacks of 9/11. Some said they fear the sacrifice of civil liberties in the name of national security, while others hail the administration's efforts to battle terrorism.

"The top national issue is the erosion of the protections of the Bill of Rights after Sept. 11," wrote one Web respondent. "I think the response of Bush has been better than it would have been under Gore, but I am very concerned about the extension of police powers under the current administration," he added.

"Security against terrorist threats and the freedom that is removed due to this threat," listed a design engineer from Connecticut.

"We keep giving up freedoms a little at a time in the name of security since 9/11," warned one medical electronics engineer.

Some engineers believe fighting terrorism is a priority and that the government is doing the right thing by tightening up security in our airports and at our borders.

"Since 9/11/01, the threat of terrorism is our highest priority," wrote a Web respondent

Indeed, "Terrorism has the potential to wreak havoc on our way of life," said an engineer who works for a national R&D lab.

A consumer electronics engineer explained, "We need to defend ourselves as a nation from foreign threats. Without security, we will not be able to produce and prosper."

Terrorism and security weren't the only concerns. Many engineers remain anxious about the economy as they face declines in the value of their stock portfolios. That nervousness matches the drop in American consumers' confidence as the indexes hit a nine-month low in August, as measured by the New York-based Conference Board.

Some readers believe too much money may be spent on securing the nation against another terrorist attack.

"The economic system [is a top national concern]," said an engineer who answered the Web survey. "Homeland security is a sham; it is unnecessary and is robbing public funds, not only from the general treasury, but from Social Security."

A reader from New York noted, "Ultimately, the economy and how people feel about their lives is what matters. If a majority of the population does not feel that they have good, physically and economically secure lives and the same will be true for their children, then the nation is not going to do well. This is what the government must provide through its domestic and international policies."

A reader from the West Coast said a return to "[economic] stability" is critical. "The bursting of the technology bubble, coupled with the associated economic downturn, the financial and accounting scandals, and the potential for new terrorist attacks makes it difficult for consumers and companies to plan their future."

A project engineer in the industrial-controls industry believes the national economy is a priority because it "affects nearly every aspect of both professional and personal lives."

Hand in hand with concerns about the economy was the belief that the nation must deal with rising unemployment. Along with an increase in the U.S. jobless rate to 5.9 percent, the rate for EEs increased in the second quarter to 4.8 percent and the employment outlook remained grim into early September. Layoffs continued as companies such as Nortel Networks and Lucent Technologies announced plans to reduce their staffs by thousands before year's end.

Given the rising unemployment and layoffs, just 17 percent of readers believe there's a shortage of engineers this year, compared with 35 percent who said there was a shortage in 2001. The results suggest that more engineers know EEs who are out of work and are having a hard time finding a job.

Foreign competition
One of the sore points with readers is the trend to increasingly outsource engineering work overseas and bring in more foreign staffers as temporary guest workers under the H-1B visa program. Companies focus on cost-cutting when choosing to outsource and taking on cheaper labor at home, and readers believe these trends are partly behind this year's mass engineering layoffs. They also believe the trends will lead to a reduction in the number of engineering jobs for U.S. citizens.

"Jobs for all Americans!!" wrote one Web respondent. "Too many manufacturing jobs are being moved outside of the U.S. Engineering jobs are starting to follow."

An engineer from New Hampshire wrote, "We seem to be at the very beginning of a trend to outsource design engineering, often overseas. This trend could overshadow the concerns about [the] number of H1-B workers. Foreigners do the work in their home country. If the trend materializes then engineering skill becomes a commodity. The U.S. will not be able to keep an adequate pool of skilled people because there will not be a career path that lets someone stay in design more than a few years."

"There are many companies that are outsourcing technology jobs to the lowest bidder outside the U.S., specifically China and India," noted a reader who responded on the Web. "By taking these jobs outside the U.S., we weaken the technology base of our engineers and place the U.S. as a nation in jeopardy if there is a time of crisis where we may need to rely on internal resources."

Other readers pointed to the outsourcing trend as a threat to the American standard of living.

"The threat to our model of capitalism caused by the vast exodus of middle-class jobs to low-[paid] but educated pools of workers around the world [is a prime concern]," said an engineer from California. "Service jobs such as call centers, software jobs, etc. Once they are gone the knock-on effect will be huge. Only the rich and the poor will be left with no middle wage earners to fuel the economy. What will be the model when high tech is dead in this country (outsourced) and with it all the jobs that depend on the flow of dollars that high tech (the great salvation) failed to create. Just listen to any 2 a.m. commercial on how to get your 'technical certificate' and 'ensure your future' to realize that these jobs just left for Bangalore [India]."

However, national issues weren't the only ones to raise readers' ire. They also expressed concerns about problems closer to home like the outlook for the U.S. electronics industry.

Overall, 51 percent of the respondents said they believe the U.S. technology industry has grown in the past five years and one-quarter said the industry is about the same as it was five years ago. But the remaining 24 percent said they believe it has declined. This is in sharp contrast with 2001's results when 68 percent of respondents said the industry had risen and only 14 percent said it declined.

Readers varied on what they felt was the most important concern of the U.S. electronics industry. Some cited the recovery, others mentioned developing new technologies to fuel must-have products to drive consumer demand, while many pinpointed the trend toward manufacturing and engineering outsourcing overseas.

One reader who responded to the Web survey noted that the "U.S. has virtually no policy for identifying current and emerging technology, which will be strategically important for future economic success and retention of high-quality jobs in science & engineering."

But the response of a 64-year-old senior engineer in California was more typical. "Recovering from the telecommunications implosion," he said.

On the East Coast a design engineer said the "continued funding of startups because of innovation and the continued development of reusability of designs to shorten product [development] cycles."

An engineer nearing retirement bemoaned the "loss of design and manufacturing [in the United States] and noted that "China is hard to compete with."

Industry concerns are not far removed from economic ones, one reader noted. And an engineer who said he was about to be laid off identified "contraction and overzealous profit-taking at the executive level" as a major industry concern. Likewise, an engineer in Silicon Valley said it was the "saturation of the market" that is a priority.

A design and development engineer in California cited overcapacity and low capital expenditure while another in Massachusetts said that "there's no obvious sector to provide growth at the moment."

An engineer who works in Michigan's automotive industry came up with, "The lack of world-changing ideas like personal computers, the Internet, etc. The industry must come up with new ideas that result in must-have products."

For the first time the "Salary & Opinion Survey" included questions about women in engineering to assess the state of women in the profession. They are still underrepresented despite years of efforts to reverse the trend.

According to the National Science Foundation, in 1998 women earned 12 percent of bachelor's degrees, 17 percent of master's degrees and 10 percent of PhD degrees awarded in electrical engineering in the United States. And it is estimated that women constitute only 10 percent of the engineering work force.

Our survey results seem to support those statistics.

Respondents said there are few women in their engineering groups. Almost half-46 percent-said they have one or two women working on their design teams, yet 31 percent reported working with no women at all. And just 23 percent reported two or more females working on their teams. Overall, there is an average of 1.7 woman per design team, according to the survey.

There may be few women on design teams, but those who are there are for the most part engaged in engineering tasks, according to 91 percent of the respondents. One-quarter identified women doing manufacturing tasks and another third said marketing. A final third of respondents said women performed management jobs on their design teams. What could be more encouraging is that 72 percent of survey respondents said they believe there are no barriers to women pursuing a career in engineering. Only 28 percent said that there are.

On the question of obstacles, answers depended on the age of the respondents. A higher percentage of engineers over 50 years, 33 percent, said barriers exist, while 73 percent in the 35-to-49 group saw none.

A 45-year-old project engineer in Michigan explained that both his mother and sister have technical degrees, "and I've grown to expect it."

Meanwhile, an engineer in Connecticut who described himself as over 65 said he knew "few women with drive and good logic and humor," qualities he believes are requirements for an engineer.

Web responses ranged from engineers who believe women can do anything men can do in engineering to those who think there are significant barriers in the profession.

"My experience is that, if anything, it is easier for a woman to advance in an engineering career," said one male engineer who said he thinks that "companies will choose a woman for hire and/or advancement because of the politically correct image it portrays."

One engineer on the East Coast praised women for their talents: "I find that in general they are much more detail-oriented than men, and this is a strong plus in project management roles."

A manager said he'd like to hire women, but few apply. "I personally consider women applicants equally. I hired a female intern last summer but, due to hiring freezes, was unable to bring her on full-time."

Other respondents said they value women's contributions to engineering teams.

"Now more than ever women are being accepted into the industry not only for their good looks but for the creativity they inject into a given design," said a respondent. "I find that the best engineers are the ones who truly love their work and that have been interested in engineering since childhood, regardless of gender."

Some respondents said the perceived barriers are related to the fact that women traditionally shoulder the child-rearing and family responsibilities. That may make them less able to work in a profession that requires 60-hour work weeks and tight deadlines, the respondents said.

"My wife was the only woman engineer in her group at Motorola who had a small child at home," one reader explained. "She was offered no options for part-time and also cut no slack when she needed to take some personal time off." He added that he didn't blame women for not wanting to work in what he called the "sweatshop environment" of engineering departments. "Women with kids are just not going to work 80-hour weeks, which seems to be the road to promotions. I don't blame them, but it is a shame that it is that way."

Despite the real or imagined barriers, female engineers said they've been able to be successful in a male-dominated profession.

"Male dominance in the field creates social snafus," said a female engineer. "But things are getting better. I am surviving, and I thrive on surviving in a male-dominated field. There are advantages to being female, like being first to be hired, last to be laid off and most likely to be able to find a job elsewhere.

"The biggest disadvantage is learning from men because there are no women to learn from. So we need more women in the field."