Strategies for managing highway transportation professional needs

Transpn. Re.s.-A Vol. 21A, No. 2, pp. 161-168, Printed in Great Britain.

0191.26rt7/87 53.00 + .xl 0 1987 Pergamon Journals Ltd.

1987

STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION PROFESSIONAL NEEDS Department Transportation

of Civil Engineering,

LESTER A. HOEL University of Virginia, Charlottesville,

VA 22901, U.S.A.

WILLIAM A. HYMAN and DAMIAN J. KULASH Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C. 20418, U.S.A.

Abstract-Growth in highway spending and the loss of approximately one-third of the nation’s professional engineers in state highway agencies will create significant problems and opportunities over the next decade. Careers in transportation will be attractive, rewarding and interesting, with promise for growing responsibility and advancement. This paper describes the dimensions of the problem and suggests approaches that should result in dynamic future-oriented organizations. Recruitment, education and training, compensation, professional satisfaction, skill requirements and other aspects of human resources management must be carefully matched to meet changing needs and skill requirements.

INTRODUCI’ION

way Administration, 1982), and similar growth is anticipated in the future. Both the amount of repair and the amount of new road construction derive in part from the volume of travel. Although there is not an immediate and direct link between growth in travel and growth in highway spending, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) forecasts that future growth in travel will average 2.0 to 2.8% per year through 1995, just under most of the projected rates of growth for the economy (U.S. Department of Transportation, 1983). The increase in federal support from 1982 (the last year before the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 took effect) until 1986 (the last year of full authorizations under the act) corresponds to an annual growth of 6.4%. Some short-run forecasts of transportation construction activity predict growth of 5 to 7% per year over the next few years. Because federal spending for highways represents little more than one-quarter of total highway spending, this increase in federal spending represents an increase of 1.9% per year in overall disbursements for highways. Considering all of the foregoing growth trendsin the national economy, in highway travel and in state and federal spending for highways-an assumed annual growth in highway spending of about 2.5% per year appears reasonable in light of past spending patterns and anticipated growth in related activities. The growth that is expected to occur will take place unevenly, and a disproportionate share of construction activity can be expected in urban and suburban areas. The problems of adding additional transportation capacity in these areas will be difficult to resolve and will require the best talents of transportation professionals who are trained to cope with complexities of a technical, social and political nature.

State highway agencies employ more transportation professionals than does any other type of government organization. Nationwide, state highway agencies employ about 41,000 professionals-30,000 civil engineers, just under 2000 computer specialists and a similar number of planners. About 6000 lawyers, accountants and other professionals make up the remainder of the state professional work force. Many of these professionals will be soon leaving the work force as the population ages. This paper discusses the dimensions of change in the highway work force and suggests ways in which agencies will cope with these problems. The primary emphasis in the paper is on transportation professional needs at the state level. Other areas of concern are in city and county governments where needs already exist for technical expertise in highway, traffic and transportation. Future shifts in highway program spending will shape future transportation professional needs in state highway agencies. Some growth in highway programs is anticipated because the economy as a whole will be growing, perhaps by 2 to 4% per year during the next decade. The Economic Report to the President forecasts that the real gross national product (GNP) will grow at 4% per year until 1990 (Council of Economic Advisors, 1984). Several major private economic forecasting firms project long-term real GNP growth of about 2.0 to 3% per year (Chase Econometrics, 1984; Data Resources, 1984). Although the highway sector may not develop at the same rate as the rest of the economy, some growth in this activity is probable, if for no other reason than to accommodate the increasing amounts of highway traffic. Travel on the nation’s highways increased by around 2.4% per year between 1975 and 1982 after some leveling due to the 1973 oil embargo (Federal HighTR,*U1:2-P

161

L. A. HOEL et al.

162 INCREASED

NEED

FOR TRANSPORTATION

PROFESSIONALS

Professional staff levels will probably increase less rapidly than highway spending as increases in productivity should reduce the need for professional staff. Projections of professional staff growth assume that productivity will grow at 0.7% per year. This is well below the growth of 1.6 to 1.9% per year that is projected for private-sector productivity between 1982 and 1990 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1983), but it is the rate at which highway agency productivity actually increased from 1971 to 1982 when productivity is measured as program funds expended in constant dollars per state highway agency employee. Thus net employment in state highway agencies is expected to increase by 1.8% per year over the next decade. In addition to new jobs created through growth, a large number of professional positions become open as employees retire, shift jobs, die or become disabled. In recent years, attrition has generally created a large number of professional openings in state highway agencies than has program growth. Because of the expansion of highway activities following World War II and the beginning of the Interstate system, a disproportionate number of engineers entered state highway agencies during the 195Os, and many agencies now find that they have a larger-than-normal fraction of their key professional work force at or nearing retirement age. Nationwide, this development is apparent from survey results on the age composition of the current professional work force in state highway agencies (Table 1). Extrapolating from complete information for 19 states, 60% of the nation’s management-level engineers in state agencies will be eligible to retire within five years; one-quarter could retire with full benefits. The states anticipate that attrition due to retirement as well as other causes will amount to 13.5% of management engineers during the next five years and to 18.4% of other professional engineers. Age-distribution data indicate that an average of 3.1% of all engineers in state highway agencies will retire or die each year. This rate is substantially higher Table

1. Age distribution

of state highway

engineers

Type of Professional

Age Less than 26 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-60 61-65 Over 65 Total Source:

Management Percent Number

2 270 1,623 2,266 1,023 293 28 5,505 Transportation

0.03 4.9 29.5 41.2 18.6 5.3 0.5

Research

than it has been in the past, and it is nearly twothirds higher than that for civil engineers generally. About 1.9% of all civil engineers in the country will be lost through attrition on the basis of NSF estimates (National Science Foundation, 1984). The high national rate of retirement for transportation professionals in state agencies can also be contrasted with the national retirement rate for transit professionals, 2.3% per year. Further, many state agencies face retirement patterns far in excess of the national average. Combining both retirements and growth yields a nationwide need for new engineers in highway agencies equivalent to 4.9% of the total engineering work force in these agencies, or about 1450 more employees per year.

CHANGING

EMPHASIS

TRANSPORTATION

IN HIGHWAY PROGRAMS

The focus of the highway program is shifting. New construction projects, including major ones, have continued to occur and new skill-and labor-intensive interchanges, intersections and lanes are constantly being added. The main emphasis of highway programs is changing, however, toward rehabilitation of existing facilities, which requires not only the same types of skills needed by professionals in the past but also new ones. More emphasis is being placed on the economic, safety and environmental aspects of highway transportation. The technology used by highway professionals is also changing as computers, satellite photography, new materials and other new technologies alter how tasks are performed. The statistics are startling. In 1954, 76% of the engineers were involved in location studies, design and construction and 5% in maintenance (Cambell and Schureman, 1955). In 1984, 66% of the engineers were involved in design and construction and more than 9% in maintenance. Today few engineers work on location studies for new highways. State highway agencies anticipate further changes in program emphasis during the next five years (Table 2). Nearly 90% of the states expect rehabilitation work to increase, 70% anticipate that bridge work will increase, and 69% expect maintenance to increase. Most states (54%) anticipate that their traffic operations work will remain at current levels. Although some states expect major construction activ-

Other Number

1,054 4,606 6,738 7,546 3,136 1,274 147 24,500 Board,

1985.

Percent

4.3 18.8 27.5 30.8 12.8 5.2 0.6

Table 2. Change

in highway

Program Rehabilitation Bridges and structures Maintenance Traffic operations Major construction Source:

Transportation

program

emphasis,

1985-1989

Percentage of States Responding More Same Less 88 70 68 46 24 Research

0 2 2 0 34 Board

(1985).

12 28 30 54 42

Strategies for managing highway transportation ities to increase,

a larger number

expect

a decrease

in this activity.

PROFESSIONAL

SIULL

NEEDS

FOR THE

FUTURE

States are particularly emphatic in expressing their need for more computer programming and systems analysis skills as well as rehabilitation and recycling skills. The data in Table 3 show the number of states which indicated a greater need or less need for a

particular skill. The last column in the table shows the relative need, computed as the difference between greater need and less need. In addition, numerous states said that they would require more of the following skills: structural engineering, maintenance management, construction inspection, traffic handling and operations, inspection by technicians, highway design, safety and transportation system management. Collectively states expect below-average growth in some skills, notably construction management, planning and legal work and financial, business and economic analysis as well as project management by technicians. The skill needs that states expect the least difficulty in meeting are accounting, supervisory, drafting and surveying by technicians, middle management and environmental impact analysis. Although the states foresee many shifts in the fu-

professional needs

163

ture mix of professional activities, two dramatic shifts stand out. One is the increased need for computer specialists because of the rapid diffusion of office automation, microcomputers, computer-aided drafting and design and expanded mainframe data base management systems. The other is toward more rehabilitation and maintenance and the growing complexity of rehabilitation work. For example, rightof-way acquisition to widen existing highways in urban areas often is extremely costly and traffic control poses special problems while road work is occurring. Moreover, states must mitigate adverse social, economic and environmental impacts that arise when reconstruction or other rehabilitation occurs in densely populated metropolitan areas. Nor is rehabilitation work necessarily less demanding of engineering skill as is often presumed. On the contrary, rehabilitation may require adjustments in pavement design to facilitate recycled material, special traffic control measures to ensure safe conditions during reconstruction, and other more complex treatments than the tasks associated with new construction. The growing complexity of rehabilitation requires more engineering and other types of skills. The changes occurring within and outside state highway agencies create some distinct professional challenges. States, already attuned to these changes, are taking a variety of actions to make their agencies more productive. The principal strategies that ap-

Table 3. Change in skill requirements,

1985-1989 Number Responding

Greater Need

Skill Greatest Increase Needed Computer programming and systems analysis Rehabilitation and recycling Moderate Increase Needed Structural engineering Maintenance management Construction inspection Traffic handling and operations Inspection (technician) Highway design Safety Transportation system management Possible Increase Needed Construction management Project management (technician) Planning Legal Technician skills (all types) Financial, business, and economic analysis Least Increase Needed Accounting Supervisory Drafting (technician) Surveying (technician) Middle management Environmental impact analysis Source: Transportation

Research Board (1985).

Less Need

Relative Need for Increase

43 33

0 0

43 33

22 21 22 20 21 19 16 17

1 0 2 0 2 2 0 2

21 21 20 20 19 17 16 15

17 13 15 13 20 6

5 2 4 4 11 2

12 11 11 9 9 4

3 7 14 9 6

1 5 12 8 7 11

2 2 2 1 -1 -4

L. A. HOEL et al.

164

pear to be most productive for managing transportation professional needs are:

highway

1. Training of mid-level and management professionals. 2. Using consultants to meet selected skill requirements. 3. Making greater use of technicians. 4. Fully exploiting the potential of computers. 5. Maintaining a competitive position in recruiting entry-level professionals. These strategies are described in the following sections of this paper. SPECIAL TRAINING

PROGRAMS FOR MIDDLE

MANAGEMENT

PROFESSIONALS

Many states are intensifying their special training programs to prepare professional staff to assume the responsibilities of managers who retire. In response to a survey question asking which steps agencies had taken to increase the effectiveness of their professional work force, it was found that various training activities are widely used and have proven beneficial. Almost all states and the District of Columbia (43 to 50 respondents) have introduced or expanded their in-house management training courses; 47 have sent professionals to management training courses outside the agency and 39 have introduced or expanded technical training programs for professionals. Although relatively few states reported that individual steps of this sort had a large effect, most reported the effect to be moderate. One form of professional development that many agencies rely on is to rotate a professional’s job assignments-to different functions, different divisions or different responsibilities-so that professionals develop a better understanding of the mission and workings of the agency as a whole, thereby preparing them to manage effectively. As engineers and managers are rotated throughout the organizational structure, they gain the experience and insight necessary for senior positions. Job rotation often requires physical relocation, however. For example, supervisory assignments may entail overseeing activities in some particular region of a state. Administrators report that they find increasing resistance among their professional staff to the acceptance of assignments that require relocation, which thwarts one of the channels for developing managerial talent. Although the increasing proportion of two-earner households may impede some relocations, the factor most often cited as probably the biggest barrier is the high cost of relocation. Taking out a new mortgage may mean accepting a higher mortgage interest rate. Selling a home amid current economic conditions may entail making two sets of house payments until the previous home has been sold or it may entail selling the former home at an

unattractive price. Although most states pay the transportation moving expenses of employees who are reassigned to new positions that require relocation, only two states (Oregon and Wyoming) compensate employees to ease the inconvenience of moving or to pay for such costs as increased mortgage rates, reduced selling price and real estate fees. For example, Oregon will purchase management and executive service employees’ homes and pay 94% of the appraised value to facilitate relocation to a new headquarters more than 35 miles away. This appears to be an effective method for removing one of the key barriers to professional reassignment, and other states facing exceptional future needs for new senior professionals might find that enactment of similar provisions could substantially improve their ability to develop the needed talent in house. In addition, new training programs might be specifically geared to the development of professional engineers so that they can acquire all the skills and perspectives needed to replace retiring top employees. For example, for 20 years the University of Mississippi’s Highway and Transportation Management Institute has offered a three-week program each year to teach general management theory and concepts generally to civil engineers in management positions or entering such positions. In addition, the University of Virginia recently began a program for briefing new top-level highway administrators on the key issues, trends and changes that affect the agencies. New programs of a similar sort targeted at management engineers might meet the special developmental needs caused by the accelerated rate of retirements from state highway agencies anticipated in the coming years. USE OF CONSULTANTS TO MITIGATE PROFESSIONAL

SHORTAGES

State highway agencies faced with large or unusual professional needs also are finding it expedient to use more outside consultants. Because of its massive scale, the consulting sector provides a substantial back-up capability that states can tap. Engineering and other professional consulting firms employ more than twice as many professionals than do state departments of transportation. Public agencies may turn to consulting firms to design transportation facilities, manage projects, prepare plans, provide broker services or conduct special studies. Consulting firms are staffed with experienced and creative professionals who generally have been tested in the competitive marketplace. Many consultants previously worked for federal, state and local highway organizations. Some state agencies rely on consulting engineers and other consultants only occasionally, preferring to use in-house staff whenever possible. Agencies have numerous high-quality professionals, and are inclined to use their own resources and stretch them as far as they can. Many states are hesitant to use

Strategies for managing highway transportation consultants because of the loss of direct control over the activity, the time consumed initiating a project and negotiating changes to a contract and the need to acclimate a consultant to the agency’s procedures. These organizations purchase consulting skills if the needed expertise is not available in house, if workloads suddenly rise and time is insufficient to hire full-time staff or if it is necessary to overcome inertia or conflict or to introduce new or broader viewpoints. Some states may be limited in the use of consultants because of opposition by employee organizations. Some highway agencies, on the other hand, rely heavily on consultants. The reasons may be a previous large reduction in force, organizational barriers making it difficult to hire the necessary skills, a determination that the private sector can perform certain tasks more efficiently than the public sector, or satisfying a public demand for less government control. Hiring of consultants can also be a way to overcome salary limitations that make it difficult to acquire various specialized skills. The use of consulting engineers among state departments of transportation is already widespread for various tasks, notably preliminary engineering and project inspection. Forty-five state highway agencies report that they use consultants for preliminary engineering to various degrees, and 19 of these report that this has a large effect on meeting their staff needs or productivity. Twenty-two states use consultants for project inspection. The most important skill requirements that consulting firms anticipate within their own organizations in the next five years, in order of importance, are those of computer operators, project management (as opposed to construction management), construction inspectors, structural engineering specialists, computer programmers, highway designers, computer systems analysts, drafters, traffic operations engineers and supervisory personnel. The use of consultants has both advantages and drawbacks. Consultants can furnish special skills not easily available to an agency and produce results in an unbiased fashion. They can help to handle peak loads and carry out assignments quickly and with fixed budgets. On the other hand, consultants limit the development of agency staffs and contribute to the loss of agency personnel. They lack accountability and if not carefully monitored, may perform unwanted or unnecessary work. Consultants represent a resource but are not a panacea. If used appropriately they can meet an agency’s professional needs. If not, they can create additional problems.

INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH USE

OF TECHNICIANS

Some states turn to expanded use of technicians to help meet future staff needs. This can free engineers from many routine activities by reserving them for the most complex and demanding tasks. The del-

165

professional needs

egation of tasks to technicians must be done carefully to avoid loss of professional oversight. For example, there have been reports that construction inspection has suffered in some instances where technicians have assumed responsibilities best left to engineers. Technicians working under the direction of engineers carry out proven or routine techniques involving analysis, problem solving, testing, designing facilities, technical writing and project inspection, and management. At present technicians in highway organizations principally work in six areas: construction, design, maintenance, materials testing, surveying and traffic operations. More than 90% of the states use technicians for construction inspection, 60% for project management and 60% for lead highway design work under the supervision of engineers. Technicians are not new to the nation’s highway organizations. About 41,000 technicians work in state highway organizations, a ratio of 1.4 technicians per engineer. Most states have between one and two technicians per engineer, although a few states make substantially more use of them. Nor do technicians currently pose a problem in terms of high rates of retirement. Most technicians are less than 46 years old, and only 11.5% are older than 55 (Table 4). During the next five years 19 states estimate that 27% of their current technician work force will be eligible to retire; 14% will be eligible to retire with full benefits; 13% will leave because of other attrition; and replacements and additions equaling 17% of the technician work force will be hired. The role of technicians could increase considerably as highway technology changes, as the highway program shifts its focus more toward rehabilitation, and as further advances in automation change the character of engineering functions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics forecasts that engineering technicians will be one of the ten fastest growing occupations in the country and that these jobs will increase by more than 50% during the next decade (U.S. Department of Labor, 1983). The chief advantage of using technicians rather than engineers is the economy implicit in using less-

Table 4. Age composition cians

of techni-

Age

Number

Percent

Less than 26 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-60 61-65 Over 65

1,691 6,629 8,647 6,474 2,052 857 126

6.4 25.0 32.7 24.5 7.8 3.2 0.5

Source: AASHTO survey of state transportation and highway departments for the Transportation Professional Needs Study, 1984.

166

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HOEL et al.

trained, less-expensive staff to perform various frequently repeated, time-consuming tasks. Excessive reliance on technicians, however, can lower the quality of an agency’s work force. One must weigh the short-run savings of lower average costs for technical personnel against the long-run risks in the erosion of the adequacy of design and construction, which could lead to deterioration in the durability of highway facilities, service quality and safety. Unnecessarily restrictive job classifications may not make the most effective use of in-house skills. For example, if an employee without a degree who has superior technical and engineering and supervisory skills is precluded from supervision of graduate transportation professionals, the agency may be needlessly putting barriers in the way of improving productivity. Some agencies may be unduly bound by tradition in delineating the responsibilities of engineers and technicians. Enhanced use of technicians within state departments of transportation appears likely during the coming decades. To some extent, this can help meet the bulge in demand for skills arising from the large numbers of engineers retiring. It is also a probable outgrowth of increased application of more automated techniques. Making effective use of this resource, however, requires careful consideration so that the objectives of the agency are achieved within the framework of regulations enacted to ensure preservation of the necessary professional competence and to provide equitable opportunities and compensation for all employees and without creation of any adverse impacts on the motivation of the work. Training for technicians will involve skill areas that improve abilities to perform specific tasks with efficiency and productivity. The technician will be required to learn the application of new techniques, materials and equipment. However, to move into managerial or design positions where broad judgement about a variety of factors is required will, in most instances, require the services of a college trained professional. FULLY

EXPLOITING

THE

POTENTIAL

OF COMPUTERS

The potential application of computers in highway transportation may be greater than in most other industries because of the immense amount of data that states collect and process with regard to the highway network, including traffic counts, highway features and travel forecasts. In addition some states have large computerized data base management systems to keep voluminous records on licensed drivers and automobile ownership. Further, the extensive amount of engineering involved in the highway sector lends itself ideally to automation in many instances. Many states have aggressively pursued the capability of computers to do tasks better, more quickly, or more efficiently, and the rapid progress being made in data-processing capability means that

even greater improvements can be realized in the years ahead. The Texas State Department of Highways and Public Transportation (SDHPT), for example, has been relying on computer automation increasingly as a part of a multi-faceted strategy to meet its current and future staffing needs. It has spent $34 million on computer hardware and software since 1980. The department estimates that these expenditures, along with greater reliance on consultants, technicians and contracting for maintenance work, have generated savings of $126 million, mainly as a result of the work-force reduction (Engineering News Record, 1983)-the engineering staff decreased from 1104 in 1973 to 700 in 1984. Now SDHPT is faced with a large number of retirements and a 45.8% increase in state highway spending from 1984 to 1989. The department also anticipates a 50% increase in population from 1980 to 2000, and attendant growth in travel from 114.3 to 190 billion vehicle miles. To accomplish more highway design and drafting work without increasing the work force, SDHPT has resorted to using the most modern technology, including CADD, digitized aerial photogrammetry and satellite surveying. Many states use the Texas CADD system and more than ten have entered into a cooperative agreement to provide funding to refine and improve the system continually. The CADD system is already a highly effective and operational drafting tool and its engineering capabilities are regularly being expanded. On the basis of time studies and reports from its own users, SDHPT has found that CADD raises the productivity of drafting work by an average of about two times. Plan-sheet preparation can be speeded up by a factor of 1.3 to 10 depending on how repetitious the plan elements are and the number of plan elements already in computer storage. In SDHPT, adding a single-screen black-and-white CADD terminal to the existing system can save the equivalent of a high-grade technician’s wages and benefits and pay for itself in less than two years. This is a cost savings due to an incremental action. Introducing a CADD system into an organization for the first time may not realize these benefits initially because of start-up costs but is likely to do so in the long run. The potential of CADD for improving engineering productivity will increase in future years as the design capabilities of the system continue to evolve. CADD also strengthens the ability of the department to recruit new graduate engineers. When SDHPT recruits on college campuses, it tries to emphasize the opportunities to work with state-of-theart technology in an attractive working environment. CADD provides evidence to new graduates that the department is dynamic and forward looking. They often view working with the most advanced technology as akin to working with state-of-the-art design tools used in the manufacture of microchips in the electronics industry.

Strategies for managing highway transportation There do not appear to be any quick solutions to highway agencies’ needs for computer professionals: These needs reflect economy-wide pressures. Never-

theless, the long-term prospects for ever-growing needs in this area within highway agencies make it an ideal career choice for all bright, ambitious and technically adept professionals. Highway agencies should view this need in a long-term context and make the necessary investment in human resources to meet this need not now but throughout the coming decade. Computers are not a panacea and caution is required to avoid creating new problems. Computer hardware, software and new applications implemented poorly can reduce productivity instead of increase it. Agencies must exercise extreme sensitivity and care to realize the productivity improvements that computers promise. Computers also generate their own professional requirements, which may differ from the needs of specific application areas. Unless an agency is exceedingly careful, it may create a greater need for computer professionals than the savings computers achieve in other professional and technical personnel. MAINTAINING

A COMPETITIVE POSITION IN RECRUITING ENTRY-LEVEL PROFESSIONALS

The design, construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of highway facilities have traditionally been primarily engineering responsibilities. Although the composition and requirements of future programs will alter the skill mix that is needed, engineering will continue to be the key discipline needed by state departments of transportation to achieve their objectives. No other discipline trains professionals to address problems regarding all the areas of materials, soils, hydrology and the physical dynamics of pavements and structures. Recently there has been more than an adequate supply of engineers and engineering skills available to the states both in the public and private sectors. The relatively low entry-level salaries that have recently been offered to civil engineers on graduation reflect this situation. In 1983 average monthly salaries offered to students earning bachelor’s degrees in civil engineering were below those earned by most other types of engineers. The starting salaries offered these civil engineering graduates had also fallen below the 1974 salary levels in real terms. While the demand for transportation professionals is expected to increase in the next decade, the supply of graduates in transportation is diminishing. Of particular note is the marked decline in civil engineering enrollments from 1982 to 1986. While a modest upturn is in evidence, this will have a scant impact on highway transportation agencies as other sectors (construction, consulting, etc.) compete for the new graduates. New skills will be required of the future transportation professional in addition to the traditional skills of engineers, science and mathematics.

167

professional needs

The professional of tomorrow must also be versed in communications, coalition building, strategic thinking, political science and economics. State agencies, on average, pay lower salaries than other employers of transportation professionals. The salaries of state highway engineers are low relative to those of engineers of all types in the private sector with similar responsibility. Further, this disparity has grown between 1975 to 1983 (Table 5). There are regional differences in this pattern. At present, salaries (midpoint of the salary range) for highway professionals such as district highway engineers are significantly lower in the southeastern part of the United States compared with other portions of the country. There appears to be no significant difference among salaries of highway engineers in other portions of the country. Such comparisons do not reflect variations in employee benefits, differences in regional cost of living, or differences in working conditions. Currently state employee benefits in transportation agencies range from 16 to 59% of salaries, the mean being 36.5%. A 1983 salary survey of the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) indicates that the mean salary of its members in state government, $35,140, is among the lowest in the civil engineering industry, nearly $8000 below the mean level of federal government salaries and more than $5000 below the amount received by consultants in private practice. The members of ITE in public transit and academia also receive higher salaries than those in state government. Because of differences in average seniority, benefits and regional cost of living, the available salary data do not necessarily imply a problem in recruiting qualified professionals. Indeed, most state departments of transportation report that they are able to hire qualified professionals in almost all areas, and the data suggest that the market for transportation professionals entering state departments of transportation has been characterized by abundant supply, although this recent trend will not remain permanently. State administrators should regularly review their recruitment practices, training and other professional development programs and salary structures so that they remain successful in attracting highquality professionals as job market conditions change.

Table 5. Relation of salaries of state highway engineers to those of engineers in private sector with similar responsibility

Year

State Highway District Engineer Compared with Private-Sector Engineer

State Highway Project Engineer Compared with Private Sector Engineer

1975 1976 1979 1983

0.78 0.81 0.73 0.70

0.63 0.71 0.58 0.57

L. A.

168

HOEL et al.

CONCLUSIONS

About 41,000 transportation professionals now work in state departments of transportation. This number will increase in the next decade and thereby create an increased demand for highway professionals. More important, however, is the outlook for retirements. An average of about 3.1% of state highway engineers are projected to retire each year throughout the coming decade. This is far higher than the average of 1.9% experienced by civil engineers in general. These high rates of retirement will create serious stress for many state departments of transportation, particularly those that did little or no hiring throughout the 1970s. The future availability of professional skills will depend upon the extent to which administrators implement the following strategies: 1. Revamp programs to train mid-level and management engineers to assume the varied responsibilities of retiring professionals (this may require revision of other procedures, such as relocation assistance, to facilitate the accelerated development of in-house professionals). 2. Review internal certification practices to make sure that there is no erosion in professional expertise needed for the growing complex rehabilitation work and at the same time make full use of necessary skills within the agency. 3. Exploit the potential of computers through greater reliance or computer-aided design and drafting, automated pavement and maintenance management systems, and other improvements. 4. Use more consultants, a resource states have identified as nearly the most effective one they draw on to help meet their staffing needs or improve productivity. 5. Monitor and adjust incentives needed to attract and retain professionals, including recruitment, pro-

motional opportunities, job satisfaction and compensation, and training and educational benefits. 6. Increase the versatility and depth of technicians and expand their application to routine tasks. Expand training opportunities for technical support staffs. Acknowledgement--This

paper is based on a study of Transportation Professionals: Future Needs and Opportunities, Special Report 207, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, 1985. Lester A. Hoe1 was Chairman of the Study Committee, William A. Hyman was Senior Project Coordinator and Damian J. Kulash, Project Supervisor.

REFERENCES

Bureau of Labor Statistics (1983) Monthly Labor Review. U.S. Department of Labor. Cambell M. E. and Schureman L. R. (1955) EngineeringPersonnel Needs for Highway Depkmehts. i)ull. 16. Manoower Needs in Hinhwav Enaineerinn. DD. l-24. HRB. Natibnal Research C&ncii, W&hingt&: b.C. Chase Econometrics (1984) U.S. Regional Forecasts: State Long-Term Tables, Washington, D.C. Council of Economic Advisors (1984) Economic Report of the President Transmitred to the Congress I984. U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. Data Resources, Inc. (1984) U.S. Long-Term Review, Washington, D.C. Engineering News Record (1983) Texas EtWeers are United via Com$ers, pp. 26-i7. . Federal Highway Administration (1982) Federal Highway Statistics. U.S. Department of Transportation. National Science Foundation (1984) Projected Response of the Science. Ennineerinn and Technical Labor Marker to Defense and N&defem”e Needs: 1982-87, Washington,

D.C. Transportation

Research Board (1985) Transportation Professionals: Future Needs and Opportunities. National

Research Council, Washington, D.C. U.S. Department of Labor (1983) Monthly Labor Review. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Department of Transportation (1983) The Status of rhe NationS Highways: Condition and Performance. Report of the Secretary of Transportation to the United States Congress.