Demand high for fire protection engineers

One profession has been left

virtually unscathed by the current economic slowdown: fire protection

engineering .   

Using science and

technology, fire protection engineers analyze how buildings are used, how fires

start, how fire grows, and how fire and smoke affect people, buildings, and

property. They apply their considerable skills with the aim of protecting

people, property, businesses, and the environment from the ravaging effects of

fire.

For the past decade, the

demand for fire protection engineers has outpaced the number of people

qualified to fill the positions. Even with an average starting salary of

$55,000 and an industry-wide mean of $98,000, knowledgeable fire protection

engineers are hard to come by.

A recent survey by the

Bethesda, Md.-based Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) of the largest employers of fire protection engineers

found that although the current economic downturn has influenced employer’s

decisions to hire additional engineers, the majority of employers who have

tried to hire a qualified fire protection engineer over the past year have

experienced difficulties. The majority of these same employers forecast

continuing recruitment problems in the next 12 months and beyond.

Sixty-eight percent of respondents

cited that they had difficulty finding candidates because there were not enough

applicants in their geographic area.

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