Locations

Current Career Opportunities (2021)

This section contains an identification of the attributes and characteristics of the current career field, based on advertised positions. The data presented in this section were October 2021 and are subject to change, based on market and workforce conditions.

Location Specific Information

The following depicts a sample of advertised number of positions, including domain categories, associated with uncrewed system technology at specified locations across the U.S.:

Top Hiring Locations

The following represent the top-five hiring locations, respective of each category:

Uncrewed Systems (all subject domains)

1. California (16,281)
2. REMOTE (6,557)
3. Texas (6,550)
4. Florida (4,136)
5. Massachusetts (4,024)

Number of Positions and Salary Ranges

The following represent the number of available uncrewed systems-related positions advertised across the U.S. at varying salary levels and associated with specific domain categories:

Uncrewed Systems (all subject domains; 92,187 advertised positions equal to an estimated $5.33B)

• <$50,000 (40,775)
• $50,000-$59,999 (6,708)
• $60,000-$69,999 (5,136)
• $70,000-$79,999 (4,874)
• $80,000-$89,999 (5,198)
• $90,000-$99,000 (5,333)
• $100,000+ (24,163)

Data Capture and Analysis - a series of recursive text strings (i.e., domain queries) were developed to capture results for each category:

• Air/Space-based: (UAS -medical -nurse -health) || (sense + avoid) || (Remotely + Piloted) || RPAS || (unmanned + (aerospace || pilot || aircraft || aerial)) || drone || (Part + 107) || sUAS || UAV || (autonomous + (aircraft || flight))
• Robotics: (robotics || "robotic systems" || robot) -aerial -aircraft -drone -maritime -underwater -undersea -automobile -nurse -rn -physician
• Ground-based: ("uncrewed ground" || "autonomous vehicle" || "autonomous automobile" || "autonomous auto" || "autonomous car" || "self driving" || "rover") -aerial -aircraft -drone
• Maritime-based: ((unmanned+ (maritime || underwater || undersea || sub || submersible || surface || vessel || maritime)) || "remotely operated vehicle" || ROV || UUV) -drone -flight -aerial -aircraft

NOTE: The term “unmanned,” rather than the more recent “uncrewed” is used within the search parameters since this verbiage still remains in use for advertising positions. Where possible, exclusionary terms have been introduced, as controls within the strings, to reduce the potential for duplicative count; e.g. “robotics -unmanned, -hospital, -surgical, -physician, -drone, -maritime, -underwater, -undersea, -aerial, -aircraft.” The domain queries are: a) inclusive of commonly used terms, specific to each category, b) feature nesting to connect related/dependent concepts, and c) were further refined through addition of specific minimum salary levels (e.g., $50,000 and $59,999-$99,999 at $10,000 increments). Due to volume of data and nature of terminology commonly used within position descriptions, some duplication in advertisement and counting of opportunities or inclusion of unrelated positions may exist, within specified categories. The total value of career opportunities were calculated by multiplying the summative totals of each specified band to a corresponding salary estimate: (>$50,000 values x $25,000 [salary band mid-point]) + (values x lowest level of band for remaining [e.g., $90,000-$99,999 band: $90,000]); this results in a conservative estimate of total career opportunity value ($2.11B). One uncontrollable aspect of categorical search is the counting of advertised positions based on proposed, but unsecured projects; advanced advertisement of such positions is a common practice within organizations responding to requests for proposals (RFP)s or other solicited work opportunities.

Position Term Popularity

The following depicts the top-10 ranking of specific terms used among position advertisements, categorized by domain:

Uncrewed Systems

1. Engineer (featured in 25.85% of advertised positions, 23,831 positions)
2. Lead (25.12%, 23,161 positions)
3. Manager (21.59%, 19,904 positions)
4. Technician (13.05%, 12,030 positions)
5. Expert (7.55%, 6,960 positions)
6. Supervisor (7.04%, 6,487 positions)
7. Operator (6.38%, 5,884 positions)
8. Director (5.03%, 4,640 positions)
9. Specialist (4.48%, 4,132 positions)
10. Developer (4.34%, 4,003 positions)

Data Capture and Analysis: The search terms from Number of Positions and Salary Ranges were used in combination with the following to determine number of appearances: Specialist, Scientist, Developer, Expert, Analyst, Manager, Director, Advisor, Technician, Operator, Pilot, Field Service Rep, Research Associate, Coordinator, Surveyor, Instructor, Designer, Supervisor, Assistant, Clerk, Lead, Programmer, Engineer, Inspector, Assembler, Trainer, Mechanic, Maintainer, Agent, Fabricator, and Planner. The number of recorded appearances was used to create a percentage value, based on known maximums (as presented in Number of Positions and Salary Ranges); the top ten for each category is presented in accordance to an ordinal (descending) rank. Since the multiple terms could be included in each advertised position description, the presented percentage values are not expected to cumulatively total 100%.

Notable Observations

The following represent notable observations, trends, and conclusions drawn from analysis of the collected data.

• Growing overall UNSY market: the total number of positions advertised over the last 24-months has increased by 146.80% (over the average of previously collected totals, mean=46,491; 54,835 new positions); calculated market value has increased by 137.92% (from $2.76B to $5.33B, addition of $3.09B in new advertised positions)
  • Positions associated with salaries up to $50,000 represent 55.77% of total advertised opportunities (51,412); those over $70,000 represent 42.92% (39,568); and those over $100,000 represent 26.21% (24,163)
  • Air/Space-based, including uncrewed or remotely piloted aircraft, aerial systems, and drones
    • Second-largest number of positions advertised (18,792): increased by 104.22% (from mean of 10,800; 9,590 new advertised positions)
    • Positions associated with salaries up to $50,000 represent 48.49% of advertised opportunities (9,112); those over $70,000 represent 35.50% (6,670); and those over $100,000 represent 20.82% (3,912)
  • Robotics, including mobile robotics and related technologies not listed under other categories
    • Largest number of positions advertised (62,952): increased by 167.89% (from mean of 30,075; 39,453 new advertised positions)
    • Positions associated with salaries up to $50,000 represent 54.97% of advertised opportunities (34,607); those over $70,000 represent 41.79% (26,308); and those over $100,000 represent 24.12% (15,185)
  • Ground-based, including uncrewed ground, autonomous, or self driving vehicles, automobiles, or cars, and rovers
    • Second-largest number of increased advertised positions and the third-largest number of positions advertised (9,685): increased by 129.09% (from mean of 5,137; 5,457 new advertised positions)
    • Positions associated with salaries up to $50,000 represent 73.62% of advertised opportunities (7,130); those over $70,000 represent 63.47% (6,147); and those over $100,000 represent 49.63% (4,807)
  • Maritime-based, including uncrewed maritime, underwater, undersea, submersible, surface, vessels or remotely operated vehicles
    • Smallest segment and featured the smallest increase in total number of advertised positions (758): increased by 79.03% (from mean of 479; 335 new advertised positions)
    • Positions associated with salaries up to $50,000 represent 74.27% of advertised opportunities (563); those over $70,000 represent 58.31% (442); and those over $100,000 represent 34.17% (259)
• Introduction of new remote work options (e.g., “work from home”), in response to SARS-CoV 2 pandemic
  • Provides new opportunities, despite not being co-located with colleagues in a common office or work setting
  • Started trending in smaller values in 2019; over the last six-months this option has dramatically increase to 6,557 advertised positions (2,136.36% increase over the 24-mo average of 1,337 jobs)
  • Some employers have begun to specifically classify whether the jobs are temporarily remote, due to COVID; there are 2,802 such positions (42.78% of all the remote work options); these positions can be expected to revert to a conventional location, once the pandemic abates
• Despite downward economic trends in other segments of U.S. national employment, employment opportunities associated with uncrewed and autonomous systems, including all categories such as UAS, mobile robotics, ground-based, and maritime-based technologies, continue to increase. With increases in each salary segment, but especially those at entry level up to $50,000; those at mid-point up to $70,000; and those above $100,000; the market is supporting long-term career progression, which indicates a healthy and sustainable market. With increases in permissibility, advances in technologies (e.g., UAS traffic Management [UTM], remote identification and tracking systems, counter-UAS engagement, and electric VTOL platforms), and the introduction of new applications, further variability and diversity of job coverage is anticipated.