Embedded and systems Software Engineers held about 337,600 jobs in 2007 (this number excludes another 355,000 involved primarily with IT, mainframe and financial applications development), making this the largest sement of the engineering community. This number is expected to increase 2.7% by the end of 2008.

An increasing number of software engineers are employed on a contract basis - many of whom are self-employed - working independently as consultants. Consulting opportunities for software engineers should grow as businesses need help designing, developing, implementing, testing, upgrading, and customizing increasingly complex software products and systems. Almost 34,000 (<10%) software engineers were self-employed in 2007.

Software Engineering Employment Outlook

Software engineering is projected to be the second fastest growing segment from 2006 to 2015, behind electrical and RF engineering - in terms of both salary and opportunities.

Rapid growth in consumer and industrial product development, which employs the greatest numbers of embedded software and firmware engineers, should result in very favorable opportunities for experienced individuals. All indicators point to continuing strong demand for software enginners that are keeping their skills current with the latest technology.

Employment of software and firmware engineers is expected to increase much faster than the average for most non-engineering and all engineering occupations... as companies continue to adopt and integrate new technologies requiring more complex software to keep their products competitive - and offer new or updated software to attract and retain customers. Competition among businesses worldwide (and constant demand from end-user consumers) will continue to drive the requirement for sophisticated technological innovations. In addition to employment growth, many openings will result annually from the need to replace workers who move into managerial positions, transfer to other occupations, or who leave the software labor force.

As software requirements in consumer products, telecommunications, networking, instrumentation, biomedical, defense and other settings continue to become more complex and feature rich - companies will require a growing number of software engineers who can keep them competitive. Consulting opportunities for software engineers also should continue to grow as firms increasingly need specialized outside help on a short duration basis to enhance their software, and integrate new technologies and standards. Outsourcing software projects (mostly by smaller firms) is becoming essential if they want to remain price competitive.

The middle 50% of software engineers earned compensation between $63,360 and $98,870. The lowest 10% earned less than $49,980, and the highest 10% earned more than $141,630. Median annual wage and salary data in the industries employing the largest numbers of software engineers in 2007 were:

Computer, networking and office equipment: $84,850
Computer services: $78,950
Engineering contract services: $74,630
Professional and consumer products: $83,870

Starting salary offers for new graduates in 2007 with a B.S. Computer Engineering averaged $61,620, and those with a M.S.C.E. averaged $67,090. Starting salary offers for graduates with a B.S. Computer Science averaged $58,930, while M.S.C.S. grads averaged $64,920. New Ph.D. grads (CE or CS combined into one group) averaged $87,540 nationwide.

The highest starting salaries were on the west coast, many reported in the mid $80s to mid $90s (due to higher cost of living issues). The highest consistent wages were concentrated in Boston, Washington DC, MD, VA, NH, New York City, Dallas and San Jose/San Francisco. Many employers are offering premium incentives for advanced degrees, and nearly 40% were offering either a starting bonus or performance bonus to new software engineer hires at all levels (or both). Company-paid relocation is common, minus a house buy. Top engineering schools draw top salaries. Companies are using school rankings as a criteria for starting salary adjustments.