Placement Opportunities for Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Professionals in Industry, Government/Military and Consulting Positions

Abstract

During the period from November 1997 through September 1998, the Placement Service of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society distributed announcements describing 249 new positions available for human factors engineers and ergonomics professionals. This paper describes placement opportunities for HFE and ergonomics professionals in industry, government /military and consulting positions (N=205). The attributes of the position descriptions examined include: degree requirements, industrial sector, areas of expertise, required work experience, salary, geographic location, job description and skills required. Sixty percent of the positions describe the masters degree as the minimum requirement. The area of expertise most frequently requested (67.8%) was HCI, with test and evaluation (specifically usability testing) being specified for 48.3% of the positions. Consulting, computer software, computer hardware and aviation/aerospace were the four leading industries offering positions. The geographical areas with the most jobs were the California and the Northeast. The most frequently cited (27%) primary area of responsibility was software design.

Archival Human Factors Jobs Database as a Tool for Tracking Trends in Skills and Knowledge Expectations in the Labor Market

“…We assume that the stated educational and experience requirements as well as job descriptions accurately reflect the demands of HF/E jobs, and that these data should therefore be taken into account in development and revision of HF/E curricula and programs in the academia. on placement opportunities for HF/E professionals annually for over 10 years (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) in the proceedings of the HFES annual meetings (Moroney, & Adams, 1996;Moroney, Sottile, & Blinn, 1996;Moroney, Anderson, & Soest, 1997;Moroney, Proulx, & Parker, 1997;Cummings, Barshay, Lesaigle, & Moroney 1998;Cummings-Hill, Means, Harrison, & Moroney, 1999;Schoeling, Goliber, & Moroney, 2001;Anderson, Bakowski, & Moroney, 2005;Loomer, Kish, & Moroney, 2006;Moroney, 2007). These data describe the hiring expectations during the aforementioned time period.…”

Placement Opportunities for Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Professionals

“…Seventy-five percent of the employers did not specify a salary in 2006. However, for the 31 positions for which a salary range was specified, the salaries ranged from a low of $30,000 to a high of $162,000 (compared to a range of $30,000 to $85,210 in 2004 (Anderson et al, 2005); $30,000 to $121,000 in 2002 (Voorheis et al, 2003); $33,000 to $95,000 in 2000 (Schoeling, Goliber, & Moroney, 2001); $33,000 to $100,000 in 1998 (Cummings-Hill, Means, Harrison, & Moroney, 1999)). In 2005, the median minimum salary was $73,000 and the median maximum salary was $100,000.…”

Placement Opportunities for Human Factors Engineering and Ergonomics Professionals in Industry and Government/Military Positions

“…Eightyseven percent of the employers did not specify a salary range, therefore caution should be used in interpreting these data. Within the 14 positions for which salary was specified, the salaries ranged from a low of $30,000 to a high of $162,000 (compared to a range of $30,000 to $85,210 in 2004 (Anderson et al, 2005); $30,000 to $121,000 in 2002 (Voorheis et al, 2003); $33,000 to $95,000 in 2000 (Schoeling, Goliber, & Moroney, 2001); $33,000 to $100,000 in 1998 (CummingsHill, Means, Harrison, & Moroney, 1999)). The median salary minimum was $73,000 and the median salary max was $100,000.…”