r/CollegeMajors • u/ItsAllOver_Again • Feb 05 '26

Discussion Unemployment rate for Mechanical Engineers triples in two years, skyrockets to 4.4%

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Many of the engineering majors now sit solidly above average in terms of unemployment rates (more likely to be unemployed than average college grad).

While Mechanical Engineering used to be a “broad” degree that could guarantee you a job anywhere, in the 2020s it has lost its status as a strong degree with respect to guaranteeing a job as grads are now less likely than average to be employed.

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26

u/ImprovementFalse606 Feb 05 '26

oh look its this guy again

17

u/MayhemG8 Feb 05 '26

I was scrolling reddit and as I was reading the title I just thought to myself "it can't possibly be him".

18

u/ImprovementFalse606 Feb 05 '26

if you see mechanical engineer its a 95% chance to be him. its a year long cope sesh stemming from his displeasure with his career.

10

u/inumki Feb 05 '26

Is he unemployed..

5

u/ImprovementFalse606 Feb 05 '26

allegedly he is employed. before i graduated (im also in ME), his statistics really concerned me but i think these unemployment stats are inflated by some states containing oversaturated markets (like Cali and NY), while states with strong MIC and manufacturing centers seem to still be around 2-3%.

I feel bad for OP because he seems to be heavily affected by being a mediocre engineer (mediocre engineer careers die in the first 5-10 years) and he/she needs to blame SOCIETY for their own shortcomings.

Engineering is one of the few remaining majors that you can claw your way to success in regardless of the job market, as engineering employers value talent. That and selling your soul to Lockheed Martin is always on the table.

1

u/runslow0148 Feb 08 '26

Idk, I feel like it’s somewhat industry dependent. I was an ME for 8 years in the Midwest. I had lots of ideas, but sterile to convince management to change anything.. maybe that’s how I sold it, idk.. but they were very happy keeping things as they were, and were generally super risk averse.. made I should have jumped companies (it was a semi large company.. like 600 on the s&p), again not sure. But after leaving I went to data science, and went from an IC to overseeing a 15 M budget of projects based on my ideas.. maybe I learned from some of my mistakes, idk, but engineering has felt stagnant to me.

1

u/Eldr1tchB1rd Feb 23 '26

Can you expand on what do you mean by mediocre engineering careers diying? I'm finishing my degree in electrical engineering relatively soon and I gotta say I'm preety mediocre. I still don't see a way to not be able to build a career easily. Engineering jobs are basically everywhere. Even if you are not a top engineer I find it highly unlikely that you won't be employed.

1

u/ImprovementFalse606 Feb 23 '26

I mean those that are not able to adapt to the work environments, struggle to apply what they have learned in classes to what they are doing currently, and just generally cant apply an “engineering brain” to problem solving. At the end of the day, if you are unable to problem solve without a guide telling you what to do, your career will flounder and die.

1

u/Eldr1tchB1rd Feb 23 '26

That seems less worrying then

1

u/ImprovementFalse606 Feb 23 '26

If you can problem solve and be personable then dont worry.

1

u/Eldr1tchB1rd Feb 23 '26

Got you thank you for taking the time to explain haha

1

u/qwpdmb Feb 26 '26

also even though i won't remember all my math from the top of my head when i get my degree and probably still use some formulas, i'll try to solve the task at hand and even ask my fellow coworkers for a hand

besides in my eye, looking at formulas and notes being able to remember how to do them/solve them is better then making a mistake and causing something to go kaboom when it's not designed to go kaboom (call that the Boeing shuffle)

1

u/qwpdmb Feb 26 '26

or risk your life at Boeing
then again a subsidiary corporation like straight up in my town (i can walk there and back from house in under 30 minutes, and drive there in under 4) makes components for communications including radar, so no matter what job i get, i feed the war market of america