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Engineering Labor Demand In Turkey

Conference Paper · September 2019

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 Engineering Labor Demand In Turkey

Senol Gulgonul1, Nedim Sozbir2 and Adnan Agir3

1 BMC Power/Electronic Control, Istanbul, Turkey

senol.gulgonul@bmcpower.com.tr

2 Sakarya University/Mechanical Engineering, Sakarya, Turkey

sozbir@sakarya.edu.tr

3 Kirikkale University/Mechanical Engineering, Kirikkale, Turkey

adnanagir@gmail.com

KEYWORDS – engineering labor demand, electronics engineering, mechanical engineering,

computer engineering, industrial engineering.

ABSTRACT
Engineering labor demand in view of different perspectives is presented in this study. A
comparison of engineering demand for different engineering disciplines is performed. Six major
engineering disciplines: electronics, computer, mechanical, civil, industrial and mechatronic
engineering are analyzed in detail for different positions, departments, position level, work
experience, English language requirement, city, and sector of companies. Student quotas of
universities having these engineering departments are also analyzed with respect to existing labor
demand. This study aims to present a snapshot of engineering labor demand to support engineering
candidates, decision makers of universities and government for future planning.

1 INTRODUCTION
Young unemployment reached 24.8% in February 2019 and engineering has the second highest
79% employment rate [1] according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUİK) statistics. Engineering
education of universities has to correspond to expectations of the industry. Electronic job search sites
allow gathering statistics of both graduated engineers and requirements of employers. Thus, it is
possible today to match requirements of industry dynamically by adapting the curriculum and closing
or opening new engineering departments.
There are several studies performed in Turkey. Qualification required for the Statistics
department graduates is determined by the analysis of job posting in Turkey [2]. A similar research
has been performed for Accounting professional staff [3]. English language demand in job
advertisements shows 43.7% in the study in 2012, which has a slightly increased value of 58% for
engineering in our study [4]. Qualification skills for civil engineers are extensively searched [5] in
 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

2015 and the results show a 50.82% requirement of Microsoft Office, coinciding with 62% our study
result.
Similar studies are also performed in other countries. Job market expectations from
Requirements Engineers (RE) are studied [6] in the Netherlands and English language skill was
required at 41% of postings. The importance of foreign language skills is studied for the Central and
Eastern Europe region based on data from online job portals [7]. Industrial engineering requires 81%
English language skill in Czechia, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. Work experience of more than 8
years is required only at 3.4% of Information Technology (IT) jobs which is similar to our findings
of 3% for engineering jobs which require 10+ years of experience [8].

2 METHOD AND RESULTS

A total number of 8231 engineering job advertisements listed on kariyer.net on 30 May 2019
are reviewed for the English language, city of work, military obligation, travel, vehicle usage, work
experience, and sectors [9]. Six major engineering disciplines; electronics, mechanical, computer,
industrial, civil and mechatronic engineering are analyzed in addition to the above parameters, for
required skills. Also, Mechatronic engineering is discussed in comparison with electronics and
mechanical engineering. Mechanical engineering and Industrial engineering have the top rank with
22% of engineering job listings. Electronics engineering and Computer engineering follow with 17%
in Table 1.
Table 1 Number of Job Listing for Different Engineering Disciplines

Percentage
Engineering Disciplines Number of Jobs
(%)

Electronics 1440 17

Mechanical 1782 22

Computer 1439 17

Industrial 1843 22

Civil 708 9

Mechatronics 403 5

Engineering 8231

2.1 Supply vs Demand

We have utilized the yearly student quota of the departments as an indicator of supply and
compared to the listed jobs for each engineering discipline [10]. Industrial engineers have the highest
ratio of 32% and are able to find jobs more easily compared to other disciplines. On the other side,
civil engineering quotas of universities are much higher compared to job postings, this circumstance
increases the difficulty of finding a job for civil engineering graduates. (see Table 2)

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

Table 2 Ratio of University Quota to Job Listings

Supply/Demand
Engineering Disciplines
(%)

Electronics 13

Mechanical 19

Computer 16

Industrial 32

Civil 6

Mechatronics 20

Engineering 17

2.2 English Language Demand and English Education

The English language is the default business language for international business. Due to the
nature of engineering, almost all international jobs require English in daily business: to be able to
read documents, and communicate with international companies and customers (see Table 3).
Table 3 English Language Requirement

English English
Requirement
Engineering Disciplines Education
(%)
(%)

Electronics 29 71

Mechanical 23 70

Computer 36 68

Industrial 40 82

Civil 17 61

Mechatronics 22 77

Engineering 27 58

While the English language is required in 58% of total job advertisements, only 27% of
engineering students have English education. This clearly shows a gap between the demand of
industry and supply of university in English education.

2.3 Geographical Location of Universities and Jobs

Istanbul is the biggest city of Turkey with a population of 15 Million, which corresponds to
19% of the population of Turkey. In harmony with the population, universities of Istanbul hosts 19%
of total student quotas in Table 4.

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

Table 4 Number of Universities and Jobs in Istanbul

Universities Jobs
in in
Engineering Disciplines
Istanbul Istanbul
(%) (%)

Electronics 17 55

Mechanical 15 41

Computer 22 73

Industrial 35 61

Civil 14 53

Mechatronics 21 47

Engineering 19 57

However, labor demand in Istanbul reached 57% for the analyzed engineering disciplines. This
situation explains why recently graduated students have to migrate to Istanbul to find a job and why
the population of Istanbul will continue to increase.
Besides Istanbul, engineering labor demand in other cities of Turkey is analyzed in Table 5.
Kocaeli surprisingly became the third city for labor demand and leaving İzmir behind. Bursa
competes with İzmir and most probably will pass İzmir in the coming years. Istanbul with 57% of
labor demand shows a big difference in industrialization level compared to other cities of Turkey.
This gap is the main motivation of population growth in Istanbul and it seems that this will continue
(see Table 5).
Table 5 Distribution of Jobs to Cities

Istanbul Ankara Kocaeli İzmir Bursa

Engineering Disciplines
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

Electronics 55 23 7 6 5

Mechanical 41 15 11 8 10

Computer 73 18 5 4 5

Industrial 61 8 8 6 7

Civil 53 22 5 7 7

Mechatronics 47 13 15 7 11

Engineering 57 15 8 7 7

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

2.4 Sectors of Engineering Demand

In this study, we analyzed only six disciplines of engineering. Some disciplines are specific to
the sector; such as civil engineering or textile engineering. Electronics, mechanical, computer and
industrial engineering education provides a more general knowledge to work at a wide spectrum of
sectors. Information and communication technologies (ICT), Automotive, Building and Defence
industries are analyzed in this section in Table 6.
Table 6 Distribution of Jobs to Sectors

Engineering ICT Manufacturing Building Automotive Electronic SW Defence

Disciplines (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

Electronics 23 17 8 6 20 6 10

Mechanical 11 24 15 12 8 2 4

Computer 42 10 8 4 5 15 5

Industrial 12 15 11 8 6 3 2

Civil 0 7 77 0 0 0 0

Mechatronics 13 27 0 15 19 0 8

Engineering 16 14 13 8 7 5 4

Information and communication technologies (ICT) has the lead in engineering demand in
Turkey. Building and Automotive sectors are second and third with 14% and 13% of total demand,
respectively.
Automotive is the most exported product of Turkey and 15% of mechatronic engineers, 12%
of mechanical engineers and 8% of industrial engineers are demanded by the automotive sector.
Electronics engineering demand shows a little lower value of 6%.
Construction is the most supported sector by the government to catalyze economic growth.
77% of civil engineers are working in the construction sector as expected. Mechanical engineers are
the second discipline which construction sector demands.
The defence industry in Turkey shows emerging growth. Economic variations have less impact
on labor demand in the defence sector compared to others. Electronics engineering is the most
preferred one by the defence sector; computer and mechanical engineering are following respectively.

2.5 Work Experience

Work experience is an important parameter to show the demand for newly graduated engineers.
25% of total job advertisements do not require any work experience and this value is similar for all
disciplines: varying between 19-26%. 10 years or more work experience is required in only 2% of
job advertisements. Civil engineering, to the contrary, requires work experience of 10 years or more
at 10%. Civil engineers can earn more with their experience compared to other disciplines.
Electronics, mechanical, computer, industrial and mechatronics engineering disciplines do not require
much experience and this creates a disadvantageous situation for experienced engineers. They have
to compete with young engineers and accept low-level salaries. 2-3 years of experience has the highest
40% share (see Table 7)

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

Table 7 Work Experience Requirement

No Experience 10 Years
Disciplines Required or more
(%) (%)

Electronics 24 1

Mechanical 23 3

Computer 24 2

Industrial 25 3

Civil 19 10

Mechatronics 26 2

Engineering 25 3

2.6 Travel
Driver license and travel requirement is an important parameter for employers. Many
companies provide company vehicles for employees for both business travels and daily transportation
at managerial level. While an average 20% of advertisements mention driver license requirement, this
requirement goes up to 40% in Mechatronics Engineering. This may guide students to obtain a driver
license during their education or as soon as they graduate (see table 8).
Table 8 Driver License and Travel Requirement

Driver Licence Travel

Disciplines Required Required
(%) (%)

Electronics 36 33

Mechanical 33 31

Computer 27 21

Industrial 30 33

Civil 31 37

Mechatronics 40 41

Engineering 20 24

2.7 Military Obligation

Military obligation is mandatory in Turkey. Minimum duration of military obligation was 12
months. Due to the long interruption of working life, many companies require either no military
obligation or to be postponed for at least 2 years or more. No military obligation is required at 40%
of total engineering advertisements. Nevertheless, this value is higher (45-60%) especially for the
engineering disciplines analyzed in this study. This situation causes graduates to either finish their
military obligations just after their undergraduate studies or postpone the military obligation by
continuing education in master or doctoral programs. The Government is aware of this request and

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

recently approved on a new military obligation plan to shorten mandatory period to 6 months and
allow a paid one-month obligation choice (see table 9).
Table 9 Military Obligation Requirement

No Military
Disciplines Obligation
(%)

Electronics 50

Mechanical 57

Computer 45

Industrial 60

Civil 49

Mechatronics 56

Engineering 40

2.8 Skills
Engineering education has a wide spectrum starting from mathematics and physics
fundamentals to specialized areas of each engineering discipline. Four years of undergraduate
education does not allow specializing on a subject. Thus, some engineering disciplines are divided
into more specialized engineering departments such as Electronics and Communication Engineering,
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Electronics and Automatic Control Engineering, etc.
It was noticeable that Microsoft Office was a common tool required for all engineering
disciplines. It is also strange that there is no formal lecture for Microsoft Office to teach a professional
level usage. Students or junior engineers learn it while using on their own which requires long
durations to gain experience. Since the industry requires this software, universities have to include
Microsoft Office to their curriculum (see Table 10).
Table 10 Microsoft Office Requirement

MS Office
Disciplines
(%)

Electronics 33

Mechanical 53

Computer 21

Industrial 64

Civil 62

Mechatronics 46

Engineering 46

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

Besides Microsoft Office, each engineering discipline has different software skill requirements.
Electronics engineering allows students to select different areas in the fourth year of their education.
These areas are mainly power electronics, communication, electromagnetic, control and automation.
Statistics of skills required for electronics engineering show the highest demand for power
electronics. Communication and control automation comes after with 19% and 18, respectively.
Although, electromagnetic is a popular choice for students it does not have a reflection in industry (
see Table 11).
Table 11 The Most Required Skills for Electronics Engineers

Power Communication Automation Programming

Discipline Electronics
(%) (%) (%)
(%)

Electronics 25 19 18 14

Detailed statistics searched for specialized requirements of the industry. The most important
observation is the programming requirement with 14%. The industry expects the electronics engineers
to have knowledge of PCB and circuit design at 9%. Altium, Mentor PADS and Eagle are well-known
tools for circuit design and knowing one of these tools may create an advantage for job candidates.
MATLAB/Simulink is a widely used engineering programming and simulation software and 3% of
the employers require this skill. Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA) is an advanced subject and
only included in 2% of advertisements (see Table 12).
Table 12 Other Skill Requirements for Electronics Engineering

Circuit Electromagnetic MATLAB FPGA

Discipline
(%) (%) (%) (%)

Electronics 9 3 3 2

CAD drawing tools; AutoCAD, CATIA, and SolidWorks are a few commonly required tools
for mechanical engineering. AutoCAD is the most preferred one by the industry with 18% in Table
13.
Table 13 Required CAD Skills for Mechanical Engineering

AutoCAD SolidWorks CATIA

Discipline
(%) (%) (%)

Mechanical 18 12 4

Computer engineering has a wide range of programming languages from C++ to Java.
Structured Query Language (SQL) is the most required skill for computer engineers. Most of
industrial ERP type software products require database programming and uses SQL. Java has 26%,
HTML programming has 15% and Microsoft .NET programming has 10% statistics. LINUX was
especially searched to see the usage of open source tools in the industry and 10% of the requirements
do not show a success story for open source world in Turkey (see Table 14).

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 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

Table 14 required Skills for Computer Engineering

SQL JAVA HTML .NET LINUX

Discipline
(%) (%) (%) (%) (%)

Computer 34 26 15 10 10

2.9 Interdisciplinary Engineering; Mechatronics Engineering

Mechatronics engineering is newly established in Turkey, combining the curriculum of
electronics and mechanical engineering. There is a discussion on the level of skills at interdisciplinary
engineering departments. Mechatronics engineering is chosen to analyze the response of the sector to
this discussion. 15% of electronics and mechanical engineering job advertisements also accepts
mechatronics engineering. This shows that mechatronics engineering competes for 15% of electronics
and mechanical engineering labor market. However, mechatronics engineering hasn’t been able to
replace electronics and mechanical engineering demand at all (see 15).
Table 15 Mechatronics Engineering Share in Job Listings

Engineering Mechatronics
Disciplines (%)

Electronics 15

Mechanical 15

3 CONCLUSION
Although this study is based on a snapshot data, it provides many beneficial results for students
and education decision makers. We can summarize the results of the study as follows:
 Learning English doubles the chance of finding a job.
 Having advanced Microsoft Office skills doubles the job portfolio.
 Completing your military obligation presents %40 more jobs.
 %75 of companies require work experience.
 Having a driving license and no limitation for travel increases your job portfolio by 25%.
 Istanbul, Ankara, Kocaeli, İzmir, and Bursa are the cities with the most labor demand.
 CAD tools (AutoCAD, SolidWorks or CATIA) are mandatory for mechanical engineers.
 Programming skill is mandatory for electronics engineers.
 Knowledge of SQL, JAVA, HTML programming, and .NET increases the chance of
finding a job for computer engineers.
 Interdisciplinary departments are not able to replace fundamental engineering disciplines.

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10th International Symposium on Intelligent Manufacturing and Service Systems

 IMSS’19 Sakarya University - Sakarya/Turkey, 9-11 September 2019

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