Rebounds from recessions are usually accompanied with considerable nervousness among job seekers when it comes to switching jobs.  Afterall, if you’re working right now, why mess with a good thing?

For RF Engineers however, the job market is loosening.  According to data compiled by Wanted Analytics a job market research firm, employer demand for RF Engineers is the highest it has been in 4 years.

As the engineering and technical arm for Randstad in the United States, Think Resources has been noticing this same trend. But it’s not just the number of new openings that is boding well for RF Engineers, it’s the candidate pool as well.

In 2010 we asked 24,000 actively searching technical and engineering job seekers to share their employment status with us.  The results showed that actively seeking RF Engineers were 34% more likely to be employed than the average technical job seeker.

That’s good news for RFs.  It’s easier for employers to influence salaries when the majority of the candidate pool is unemployed and willing to take a pay cut just to get back to work.  Fortunately for RFs the majority of active seekers already have paying gigs, which means coupled with the highest demand for talent the Telecom industry has seen in four years, the average salary of RF Engineers is on the rise.

Based upon over 150 RF Engineering positions that our clients have asked us to fill since 2008, we have discovered an 18% increase in the low end of what a client is willing to offer a candidate from $75k – $80k, and an 8% increase on the high end.  Additionally, they’re willing to pay up to 11% more for more years of experience.

About Think Resources

Think Resources, a Randstad company, is a leading provider of Engineering and Technical staffing solutions in the United States.  Since 1988, Think Resources has placed thousands of technical professionals into telecom jobs and engineering jobs using an innovative suite of recruiting tools and processes.  With direct and sometimes exclusive access to hiring managers, Think Resources puts the experts to work who power our clients’ businesses.