Electrical Engineer
| Median wage (USD) | 120630 |
|---|---|
| Projected employment growth (%) | 10 |
| AI exposure (%) | 41 |
| Maximum exposure (%) | 66 |
| Source | eloundou |
| What AI changes in this occupation | Performing detailed calculations to compute and establish manufacturing, construction or installation standards or specifications (72 out of 100), operating computer-assisted engineering or design software or equipment to perform engineering tasks (71), preparing technical drawings and specifications of electrical systems or topographical maps so that installation and operations conform to standards and customer requirements (66), compiling data and writing reports on existing or potential electrical engineering studies or projects (65), preparing specifications for purchases of materials or equipment (65) and estimating labour, material or construction costs for budget preparation (64) are the O*NET profile's six most delegable tasks, and six tasks of computation, documentation and pricing. Work activities confirm it: working with computers (98 out of 100), documenting and recording information (89), drafting, laying out and specifying technical devices, parts and equipment (84), analysing data or information (83), getting information (83), processing information (73) and estimating the quantifiable characteristics of products, events or information (57). BLS describes the gesture itself — "use engineering or design software or equipment to create models, diagrams, and layouts" — and puts computer skills first among the important qualities: computer-aided design software to perform engineering tasks, and a working knowledge of programming languages. The calculations, the design options, the schematics, the purchase specifications and the project documentation all move to the tool. BLS puts the median wage for electrical engineers at $120,630 in May 2025 — under $76,550 for the lowest 10%, over $184,300 for the highest 10% — against $125,040 for the combined electrical and electronics engineering group, $130,220 for electronics engineers (except computer), $108,620 for engineers as a group and $50,980 for all workers. The best-paying industries are aerospace product and parts manufacturing ($141,160), research and development in the physical, engineering and life sciences ($135,230), electric power generation, transmission and distribution ($122,430), navigational, measuring, electromedical and control instruments manufacturing ($121,610) and engineering services ($105,780) — the latter employ 22% of the 199,700 electrical engineers, ahead of electric power generation and distribution (10%). The projection is +10% between 2025 and 2035 for electrical engineers (199,700 jobs in 2025, 219,500 in 2035, +19,800), against +8% for the combined group (297,900 jobs in 2025, 321,300 in 2035, +23,400) and about 16,300 openings a year, mostly replacing workers who leave. BLS ties that growth explicitly to companies increasingly using engineers' expertise on projects involving electrical and electronic devices, systems and infrastructure: these engineers "are expected to have key roles in developing sophisticated consumer electronics, solar arrays, semiconductors, and communications technologies". Entry is gated by the degree — a bachelor's in electrical engineering, electronics engineering or a related field, with no related work experience and no on-the-job training according to BLS —, a Professional Engineering (PE) licence not being required for entry-level positions but becoming necessary to oversee the work of other engineers, sign off on projects and provide services directly to the public: a degree, the Fundamentals of Engineering exam, several years of relevant practice and the Principles and Practice exam. O*NET places the profile in Job Zone Four — considerable preparation —, flags it as Bright Outlook and counts 11,400 projected openings over the decade; 58% of its respondents report working more than 40 hours a week. Design, inspection and accountability remain human: designing, implementing, maintaining or improving electrical instruments, equipment, facilities, components, products or systems for commercial, industrial or domestic purposes (80 out of 100), overseeing project production efforts so that projects are completed on time and within budget (76), directing or coordinating manufacturing, construction, installation, maintenance, support, documentation or testing activities to ensure compliance with specifications, codes or customer requirements (74), inspecting completed installations and observing operations to ensure conformance to design, equipment specifications and operational, safety or environmental standards (67), developing systems that produce electricity from renewable sources such as wind, solar or biofuels (66) and planning or implementing research methodology applying electrical theory principles to engineering projects (62) are the tasks the Eloundou study leaves untouched, up to 66% of the occupation at most. The working pattern confirms it: 87% of O*NET respondents use e-mail daily and 80% the telephone, 77% work indoors in an environmentally controlled setting, 70% have a lot of freedom to determine their tasks, priorities and goals, 61% rate accuracy as extremely important and 36% as "very important", 61% have a lot of decision-making freedom, 58% work more than 40 hours a week, 48% are in constant contact with others, 18% carry very high responsibility for the work results of other workers and 30% consider that a mistake not easily corrected would have extremely serious consequences. The top-rated skills are writing (78), then critical thinking, reading comprehension, active learning, active listening, complex problem solving and speaking (75 and 72). 19% of respondents rate the job "highly automated", 24% "moderately automated", 14% "slightly automated" and 43% "not at all automated". |
| Key skills | Electrical engineering: circuit theory, electromagnetism, electrical machines, power electronics, control systems and automation, network protection and coordination, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, renewable energy integration, lighting · calculation and simulation: circuit analysis, load and voltage-drop calculations, sizing of conductors and protective devices, short-circuit currents and selectivity, simulation (MATLAB/Simulink, PSpice, ETAP, PowerWorld), finite element analysis · digital tools: electrical CAD (AutoCAD Electrical, EPLAN), schematics and bills of materials, technical data management, programming (Python, C, VHDL), programmable logic controllers (PLC), SCADA and control systems · standards and compliance: electrical and building codes, electrical safety standards, electromagnetic compatibility, grounding, conformity and inspection files · instrumentation and testing: measuring instruments, commissioning tests, fault diagnosis, preventive maintenance · project management: cost and quantity estimating, purchase specifications, tendering, schedules, coordinating contractors, project documentation · communication: drafting reports and calculation notes, presenting results to clients and non-technical teams, dealing with suppliers · professional practice: Professional Engineering (PE) licence, professional conduct, liability, intellectual property · generative AI tools for design options, calculation notes, specification checking and documentation drafting |
| Courses to get ahead | Introduction to Electronics · Coursera (Georgia Institute of Technology) · ≈ 46 hours of workload · 89 · Computation is the heart of the tasks AI takes over: performing the detailed calculations that establish standards and specifications (72 out of 100) and operating computer-assisted design software (71) are the first two on the profile. The course establishes circuit laws, diodes, transistors and amplifiers — the material that lets an engineer judge a simulator's output instead of trusting it. That matters on systems where 30% of O*NET respondents consider that a mistake not easily corrected would have extremely serious consequences. Electric Power Systems · Coursera (The State University of New York) · ≈ 12 hours of workload · 88 · Designing, implementing and maintaining electrical systems (80 out of 100) and developing systems that produce electricity from renewable sources (66) are the two ends of the profile, and this course works through generation, transmission, distribution and electricity markets. It is the sector BLS cites in its projection, alongside solar arrays and semiconductors: electric power generation, transmission and distribution employs 10% of electrical engineers and pays a median wage of $122,430. Introduction to Power Electronics · Coursera (University of Colorado Boulder) · ≈ 3 weeks · 86 · Preparing specifications for electrical systems (66 out of 100) and directing their design (80) requires knowing what a converter actually does to current: the course covers diodes, power transistors, rectifiers and choppers, which is the design gesture that remains human. BLS notes that these engineers "are expected to have key roles in developing sophisticated consumer electronics, solar arrays, semiconductors, and communications technologies" — four fields where power conversion is the core of the work. Digital Systems: From Logic Gates to Processors · Coursera (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) · ≈ 8 weeks · 84 AI For Everyone · Coursera (DeepLearning.AI) · ≈ 4 weeks · 83 Prompt Engineering for ChatGPT · Coursera (Vanderbilt University) · ≈ 2 weeks · 81 |
| Occupations to pivot toward | Aerospace Engineer · 134960 · 8 · 52 Architectural and Engineering Manager · 171270 · 6 · 39 Electrical and Electronic Engineering Technologist and Technician · 78190 · 2 · 33 |
| Skills to acquire for the pivot | Eloundou measures the electrical engineer's exposure at 41% (human β) and up to 66% (human ζ): performing the detailed calculations that establish standards and specifications (72 out of 100), operating computer-aided design software (71), preparing technical drawings and specifications of electrical systems (66), compiling data and writing reports (65), preparing purchase specifications (65) and estimating labour, material and construction costs (64) are the O*NET profile's most directly delegable tasks, while designing, implementing and maintaining electrical systems (80), overseeing project production efforts (76), directing or coordinating manufacturing, construction, installation and testing (74), inspecting completed installations (67), developing renewable energy systems (66) and planning research methodology (62) remain human. Within the repository, 41 puts the electrical engineer 56th of the one hundred and three occupations: fifty-three occupations have a higher exposure — from the translator (84) to the architect (43) —, two are tied with it (the graphic designer and the real estate agent, 41) and forty-seven have a lower one, the nearest being the pharmacist (40). Its ζ of 66 places it 55th: fifty-four occupations have a higher ζ — from the writer and author and the cybersecurity analyst (100) to the occupational therapist (67) —, none is tied with it and forty-eight have a lower one, the nearest being the pharmacy technician (62). The SOC code used is 17-2071.00 "Electrical Engineers": it is confirmed by the occupation's O*NET profile — exact code and title, updated 2026, Bright Outlook flag, Job Zone Four —, by the BLS projections table, which carries the line "Electrical engineers" under code 17-2071 (199,700 jobs in 2025, 219,500 in 2035, +10%), and by the Eloundou dataset, which carries a line titled exactly "Electrical Engineers" under that code; O*NET files under it the reported titles "Circuits Engineer", "Design Engineer", "Electrical Controls Engineer", "Electrical Design Engineer", "Project Engineer" and "Test Engineer", and keeps electronics engineers (17-2072.00) as well as radio frequency identification device specialists (17-2072.01) separate. BLS puts the median wage for electrical engineers at $120,630 in May 2025, against $125,040 for the combined electrical and electronics engineering group and $108,620 for engineers as a group; the lowest 10% earn less than $76,550 and the highest 10% more than $184,300. The projection is +10% between 2025 and 2035 for electrical engineers — 199,700 jobs in 2025, 219,500 in 2035, +19,800 —, against +8% for the combined group (297,900 jobs in 2025, 321,300 in 2035, +23,400) and about 16,300 openings a year, mostly replacing workers who leave. The best-paying industries are aerospace product and parts manufacturing ($141,160), research and development in the physical, engineering and life sciences ($135,230), electric power generation and distribution ($122,430), navigational, measuring, electromedical and control instruments manufacturing ($121,610) and engineering services ($105,780), which employ 22% of the workforce. Entry is gated by the degree — a bachelor's in electrical or electronics engineering or a related field, with no related experience and no on-the-job training —, a PE licence not being required for entry-level positions but necessary to oversee other engineers, sign off on projects and serve the public. The working setting is mostly the office: 87% of O*NET respondents use e-mail daily, 80% the telephone, 77% work indoors in an environmentally controlled setting, 70% have a lot of freedom over their tasks and priorities, 61% rate accuracy as extremely important, 61% have a lot of decision-making freedom and 58% work more than 40 hours a week; 24% of respondents rate the job "moderately automated", 14% "slightly automated" and 43% "not at all automated". This card's three pivots are neighbouring occupations documented by BLS: the aerospace engineer ($134,960, +8% between 2025 and 2035, human β 52), the architectural and engineering manager ($171,270, +6%, human β 39) and the electrical and electronic engineering technologist and technician ($78,190, +2%, human β 33) all appear in the similar-occupations table on the electrical and electronics engineers' OOH page. The median salary shown is $120,630 a year, or $58.00 an hour according to the 2025 O*NET profile. In the repository of one hundred and three occupations it ranks 17th: sixteen occupations pay more, from the physician ($239,200) to the mathematician ($121,680), and the electrical engineer is ahead of the data analyst ($120,230), the administrative services manager ($114,130), the data scientist ($112,590) and the statistician ($105,650), while the repository's median salary is $76,690 — the electrical engineer sits 57% above it. The +10% growth is well above the repository median (4%): fifteen occupations grow faster, from the nurse practitioner (40%) to the mechanical engineer (11%), four at the same rate (the veterinarian, the DevOps engineer, the software architect and the statistician, 10%) and eighty-three more slowly. The gap with neighbouring occupations is a matter of responsibility and specialisation: the architectural and engineering manager pays 42% more and grows +6%, the aerospace engineer 12% more and +8%, while the technologist and technician pays 35% less and grows only +2%. Progression runs through the PE licence — only a licensed engineer signs off on projects and serves the public —, through command of electrical CAD, simulation and programming, and through specialisation (power networks and generation, renewable energy, control and automation, aerospace, semiconductors), which AI-assisted documentation does not replace. Every value on this card comes from a named source; only the task shares, derived from O*NET importance scores, and the course scores and durations are editorial estimates, documented in _ponderation. |
| GPT-4 exposure — beta / zeta (%) | 56 · 84 |