Electrical engineering opportunities?

[bombastic]

I am currently pre-engineering in the U.S. and should begin a specialization soon. I am leaning heavily toward EE, but have some trepidation after looking at various employment aspects of EEs after graduation.

Looking at statistics like the OLS OOH and second-hand reports, it looks like EE is in decline or stagnating. To make matters a bit worse, I am geographically tied down due to family, although we have some big names here in Oregon like HP and Intel, the BPA, and the PNNL (ok, that's Richland, WA).

Has anyone been experiencing trouble starting a career or continuing with their current one? What are the opportunities like for an EE in the U.S.? I know a MEng or MS is a good idea, but is a BSEE sufficient anymore? What are some of the most employable specialties of EE? Maybe something like signals in the medical field?

Getting employment stats from local uni's is a bit difficult, so any opinions are helpful. And while I think EE is damn interesting, I'm sure there are other fields of eng that could be intellectually stimulating, challenging, and rewarding. I simply do not want to put my family through 2-3 more years of education only to find slim pickings at the end of the tunnel.

 

[Wax]

I don't think you should limit your options into one geographic location, in today's economy. Would it be possible for your family to move? By the time you graduate, there's a chance the economy will pick up but you shouldn't depend on that. I think your best option is to finish EE and move to where the jobs are.

 

[Lambduh]

I just graduated from OIT (Klamath Falls, OR) with a degree in EET. I ended up going to graduate school for optical physics but the rest of my class that did not go to graduate school all ended up with jobs within 6 months and i believe that all but 1 of them are in the state of Oregon still. I feel that at this point the job outlook for electrical engineers is still much better than most other fields but i am just looking at one small set of people. So don't give up hope just because you think there might not be jobs avaliable. If you like EE then do EE!

 

[n!kofeyn]

I was a former EE major, but am now in graduate school for math. I agree with the others that you should finish the EE. In my opinion and with my experience, I don't think it is worth it getting a master's level education in engineering. At least the company I interned with, it seems they would treat you the same as a new employee with only a bachelor's. Master's are probably good for specific jobs though. Depending on your family situation, I definitely think it is worth trying to get at least one internship or co-op. The company I interned with, National Instruments (based in Austin, TX), has a huge summer internship program.