jobfacts

Electrical engineers

SOC 2020 2123

Electrical engineers undertake research and design, direct construction and manage the operation and maintenance of electrical equipment, power stations, building control systems and other electrical products and systems.

Also calledCable testing engineerEquipment engineerElectrical superintendentElectrical and mechanical engineerResident engineerPower station engineerand 55 more titles
Typical full-time pay£60,3002025 Provisional
People in the job60,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month1,300↑ 8.8%on last year · 150th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time electrical engineers earn between £43,000 and £73,900 a year.

What full-time electrical engineers earn, 2025
£60,300 typical£34,000lowest 10%£43,00025%£78,700top 20%n/ptop 10%
Middle half (£43,000–£73,900)n/p: top 10% not published by ONS
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£34,000
Lowest 20% earn less than£39,400
25%£43,000
Median£60,300
75%£73,900
Top 20% earn more than£78,700
Top 10% earn more thanNot published
Typical pay by regionUK median £60,300
East of England!£63,400
North West!£61,800
South East!£59,800
Scotland!£58,300
South West!£55,000
North EastNot published by ONS–
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS–
East MidlandsNot published by ONS–
West MidlandsNot published by ONS–
LondonNot published by ONS–
WalesNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £60,300
East of England£63,400 (small sample)
North West£61,800 (small sample)
South East£59,800 (small sample)
Scotland£58,300 (small sample)
South West£55,000 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
Yorkshire and The HumberNot published by ONS
East MidlandsNot published by ONS
West MidlandsNot published by ONS
LondonNot published by ONS
WalesNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £53,300
  • 2024 £58,700
  • 2025 Provisional£60,300
↑ 13% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 1,300 jobs for electrical engineers are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (4 in all)
Show as table
Aug 2026Not published
Jul 20261,328
Jun 20261,457
May 20261,378
Apr 20261,201
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20261,395
Jan 20261,442
Dec 2025917
Nov 20251,452
Oct 20251,418
Sept 20251,402
Aug 20251,388
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 20251,728
Apr 20251,310
Mar 20251,438
Feb 20251,365
Jan 20251,262
Dec 2024691
Nov 20241,046
Oct 20241,107
Sept 20241,237
Aug 20241,143
Jul 20241,290
Jun 20241,105
May 20241,349
Apr 20241,277
Mar 20241,427
Feb 20241,276
Jan 20241,794
Dec 20231,413
Nov 20231,346
Oct 20231,280
Sept 20231,290
Aug 20231,246
Jul 20231,422
Jun 20231,873
May 20231,645
Apr 20231,454
Mar 20231,755
Feb 20231,835
Jan 20232,101
Dec 20221,808
Nov 20221,986
Oct 20221,836
Sept 20221,720
Aug 20221,957
Jul 20222,223
Jun 20221,729
May 20221,757
Apr 20221,546
Mar 20221,746
Feb 20221,675
Jan 20221,690
Dec 20211,559
Nov 20211,407
Oct 20211,400
Sept 20211,288
Aug 20211,276
Jul 20211,718
Jun 20211,331
May 20211,714
Apr 20211,585
Mar 20211,718
Feb 20211,219
Jan 20211,204
Dec 20201,042
Nov 20201,017
Oct 20201,059
Sept 2020947
Aug 2020836
Jul 2020842
Jun 2020945
May 2020811
Apr 20201,158
Mar 20201,528
Feb 20201,672
Jan 20201,558
Dec 20191,190
Nov 20191,351
Oct 20191,416
Sept 20191,479
Aug 20191,481
Jul 20192,000
Jun 20191,779
May 20191,504
Apr 20191,077
Mar 20191,410
Feb 20191,317
Jan 20191,463
Dec 2018904
Nov 20181,134
Oct 20181,182
Sept 20181,200
Aug 20181,070
Jul 20181,118
Jun 20181,153
May 20181,239
Apr 20181,146
Mar 20181,156
Feb 20181,136
Jan 20181,379
Dec 2017948
Nov 20171,104
Oct 20171,186
Sept 20171,093
Aug 20171,248
Jul 20171,122
Jun 20171,526
May 20171,656
Apr 20171,544
Mar 20171,758
Feb 20171,433
Jan 20171,767
Is there a shortage of electrical engineers?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment.

  • Visas grantedWell above usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedAbove usual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
67%against 27% for all jobs
DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London537
Manchester164
Birmingham155
Glasgow City137
Bristol, City of134
Leeds76
Newcastle upon Tyne66
Westmorland and Furness62
City of Edinburgh57
Nottingham46
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where electrical engineers are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 493 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, South Korea, Spain, ranking it 40th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
WomenToo few in the survey to give a reliable figure
Age of electrical engineers
n/p
29%!
25%!
21%!
13%!
n/p
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3429% (small sample)
35–4425% (small sample)
45–5421% (small sample)
55–6413% (small sample)
65+Not published
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent41%
Higher education below degree19%
A levels or equivalent34%
GCSEs or equivalent!5.5%
Other qualifications–
Not published
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent41%
Higher education below degree19%
A levels or equivalent34%
GCSEs or equivalent5.5% (small sample)
Other qualificationsNot published
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: engineering activities and related technical consultancy (18%), electrical installation (8.9%), distribution of electricity (6.5%), production of electricity (4.7%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
41%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
5
from level 4, including degree apprenticeships
Apprenticeships take
2 to 5 years
typically

Apprenticeships

5 for this job
Level 6About 3½ yearsDegree

Electrical or electronic technical support engineer

You gain
BEng or BSc Honours Electrical and Electronic Engineer degree that fully aligns with the…
Leads to
Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Details on Skills England

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical tasks

  • conceives and develops engineering designs from product ideas in electrical engineering
  • supervises, controls and monitors the operation of electrical generation, transmission and distribution systems
  • determines and specifies manufacturing methods of electrical systems
  • ensures that manufacture, operation and maintenance comply with design specifications and contractual arrangements
  • organises and establishes control systems to monitor the performance and safety of electrical assemblies and systems

Skills

  • abide by regulations on banned materials
  • adjust engineering designs
  • approve engineering design
  • perform scientific research
  • use technical drawing software
  • align software with system architectures
  • analyse production processes for improvement
  • analyse test data
  • apply health and safety standards
  • apply soldering techniques
  • apply technical communication skills
  • assemble electromechanical systems
  • assemble instrumentation equipment
  • assemble microelectromechanical systems

Knowledge

  • design drawings
  • electricity
  • electricity principles
  • engineering principles
  • environmental legislation
  • environmental threats
  • ABAP
  • acoustics

Suits people who like

  • Practical, hands-on work
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for science, research, engineering and technology professionals, a group of 28 jobs that includes electrical engineers.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 18%about 394,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20351.3 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.