Will the shortage of automation engineers kill the profession?

ARC Advisory Group and others have long discussed the lack of qualified automation candidates in the job market, the exodus of expertise due to retirement, and the increased diversity of technology knowledge needed. People discuss the cultural challenge of the Millennial generation and how companies must adapt. The press is awash with articles about the lack of students graduating with STEM degrees. So, what can industry do?

Automation engineers wear a myriad of different hats. As I’ve written previously, some of those roles no longer require an ‘engineer.’ These could be things like loop tuning, graphics development, basic logic programming and configuration, and network set up. Most of this work is quite rote and heavily based in standards. Standards are rules. Rules can be coded.

Cognitive computing is developing fast. Asking the ‘computer’ a question and receiving a viable answer is no longer science fiction. Just ask Siri. The medical community is already well down the road of utilizing this technology to reduce diagnosis times and increase accuracy. Related predictive technologies allow companies to schedule needed resources for more optimum utilization, as well.

Other technologies are reducing the need for automation personnel as well. Augmented reality allows companies to access expertise that is geographically disperse, but perhaps poorly utilized. Drone technologies and virtual reality technologies reduce the need for onsite personnel.

Add all this up and it looks like industry is well on its way to automating the automation engineer. Maybe Mark Cuban is right. "I personally think there's going to be a greater demand in 10 years for liberal arts majors than for programming majors and maybe even engineering," Cuban said in an interview with Inc. "Maybe not now," Cuban acquiesced. "They're gonna starve for a while."

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Companies need to get the work done. The market isn’t providing the labor. Technology is advancing with extreme rapidity. Something’s going to give.