U.S. engineering firm CEOs remain encouraged about overall company performance and market trends. They also see strong signs of recovery in industry employment, this according to the latest ACEC Engineering Business Index (EBI), which charts the health of the engineering industry.
EBI is a diffusion index, consolidating hundreds of engineering leader responses nationwide on market and firm performance into a single “confidence” number. Any score over 50 indicates expansion.
The third quarter EBI (Q3), conducted Sept. 17 to Oct. 3 of 275 engineering CEOs, presidents and chairmen, produced a positive composite score of 68.8, virtually unchanged from 68.9 in the second quarter.
Survey respondents reported a strong rebound in hiring: 67.4% said employment at their firm was equal to or higher now than pre-recession (2008) levels; 25% said employment was “at least 10%” higher. Only 32.7% said employment was lower.
Engineering leaders remained encouraged by company performance: 65% reported higher backlogs compared to this time last year—significantly more than the 51% in the second quarter. Almost half of Q3 respondents (49.3%) expect backlogs to increase further over the next 12 months.
Respondents also believe most private markets will continue to thrive: 61.7% expect improvement over the coming year in Land Development, 56.1% in Energy and Power, and 53.1% in Buildings and Commercial.
Public market expectations, however, continue to lag: only 43.8% of respondents believe the Water and Wastewater segment will improve by next year; only 39.7% said Transportation will improve.
For the complete Q3 summary of ACEC’s Engineering Business Index (EBI) go to www.acec.org.
Related Stories
| Jul 18, 2014
Contractors warm up to new technologies, invent new management schemes [2014 Giants 300 Report]
“UAV.” “LATISTA.” “CMST.” If BD+C Giants 300 contractors have anything to say about it, these new terms may someday be as well known as “BIM” or “LEED.” Here’s a sampling of what Giant GCs and CMs are doing by way of technological and managerial innovation.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Construction Management Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, Barton Malow, Hill International top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest construction management and project management firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Contractors [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Turner, Whiting-Turner, Skanska top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest contractors in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Engineering firms look to bolster growth through new services, technology [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Following solid revenue growth in 2013, the majority of U.S.-based engineering and engineering/architecture firms expect more of the same this year, according to BD+C’s 2014 Giants 300 report.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering/Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Jacobs, AECOM, Parsons Brinckerhoff top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering/architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Engineering Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Fluor, Arup, Day & Zimmermann top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest engineering firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
Top Architecture Firms [2014 Giants 300 Report]
Gensler, Perkins+Will, NBBJ top Building Design+Construction's 2014 ranking of the largest architecture firms in the United States.
| Jul 18, 2014
2014 Giants 300 Report
Building Design+Construction magazine's annual ranking the nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S.
| Jul 17, 2014
A new, vibrant waterfront for the capital
Plans to improve Washington D.C.'s Potomac River waterfront by Maine Ave. have been discussed for years. Finally, The Wharf has started its first phase of construction.
| Jul 17, 2014
A harmful trade-off many U.S. green buildings make
The Urban Green Council addresses a concern that many "green" buildings in the U.S. have: poor insulation.
