Architecture and Engineering · Holland code CIR

Industrial Engineers

Design, develop, test, and evaluate integrated systems for managing industrial production processes, including human work factors, quality control, inventory control, logistics and material flow, cost analysis, and production coordination.

Also called: Engineer, Industrial Engineer, Process Engineer, Project Engineer, Continuous Improvement Engineer, Facilities Engineer, Operations Engineer, Plant Engineer.

O*NET 17-2112.00

At a glance

US median annual pay: $102,440; Middle half earn $83,600 to $129,250. BLS OEWS, May 2025.
Most common education: Bachelor's Degree; 59% of workers surveyed by O*NET report this level.
Preparation needed: Job Zone 4 of 5; Considerable preparation. Zone 1 is little or none; zone 5 is graduate-level.
US employment outlook, 2024 to 2034: +11% · Much faster than average; 351,100 jobs in 2024, projected 389,600. BLS Occupational Outlook Handbook, which groups this with similar roles as "Industrial engineers".

What the work involves

The tasks workers in this occupation rate as most important, from the O*NET survey.

Estimate production costs, cost saving methods, and the effects of product design changes on expenditures for management review, action, and control.
Plan and establish sequence of operations to fabricate and assemble parts or products and to promote efficient utilization.
Analyze statistical data and product specifications to determine standards and establish quality and reliability objectives of finished product.
Confer with clients, vendors, staff, and management personnel regarding purchases, product and production specifications, manufacturing capabilities, or project status.
Communicate with management and user personnel to develop production and design standards.
Evaluate precision and accuracy of production and testing equipment and engineering drawings to formulate corrective action plan.
Recommend methods for improving utilization of personnel, material, and utilities.
Record or oversee recording of information to ensure currency of engineering drawings and documentation of production problems.

Skills and knowledge it leans on

Skills

Reading Comprehension4.0 / 5
Active Listening4.0 / 5
Critical Thinking4.0 / 5
Speaking3.9 / 5
Writing3.8 / 5
Monitoring3.4 / 5

Knowledge areas

Engineering and Technology4.4 / 5
Production and Processing4.3 / 5
Mechanical4.2 / 5
Design4.1 / 5
English Language4.0 / 5
Mathematics3.9 / 5

Importance ratings on O*NET’s 1 to 5 scale. Higher means the occupation depends on it more.

Who tends to enjoy it

How strongly this occupation draws on each of the six Holland interest types, which is the same profile the career interests test compares you against.

Realistic66
Investigative67
Artistic10
Social6
Enterprising38
Conventional73

The same work abroad

Other countries classify jobs differently, so these are the closest matches through the international ISCO-08 standard, not exact equivalents.

European occupation titles (ESCO)

process engineer · DE Ingenieur Verfahrenstechnik/Ingenieurin Verfahrenstechnik · FR ingénieur process/ingénieure process
industrial engineer · DE Wirtschaftsingenieur/Wirtschaftsingenieurin · FR ingénieur industriel/ingénieure industrielle
manufacturing engineer · DE Fertigungsingenieur/Fertigungsingenieurin · FR ingénieur de fabrication/ingénieure de fabrication
production engineer · DE Produktionsingenieur/Produktionsingenieurin · FR ingénieur de production/ingénieure de production
packing machinery engineer · DE Ingenieur Verpackungsmaschinen/Ingenieurin Verpackungsmaschinen · FR ingénieur machines d’emballage/ingénieure machines d’emballage
equipment engineer · DE Equipment Engineer · FR ingénieur équipement/ingénieure équipement

Closest UK occupation groups (SOC 2020)

Quantity surveyors (2453)45,300 employed
Quality assurance technicians (3115)36,100 employed
Quality control and planning engineers (2481)35,700 employed

Employment is the UK Annual Population Survey for April 2025 to March 2026, all workers in the group, which can be broader than this one occupation.

Pay across Europe, for the whole group

Median annual earnings of all employees in “Professionals”. This is the broad ISCO group this occupation falls in, not the occupation itself, so treat it as context for the wage level, not as a salary for this job.

Median annual earnings, Professionals, by country
Country	Median pay
Belgium	€61,714
Germany	€59,529
Ireland	€56,877
Austria	€55,374
Netherlands	€53,595
Sweden	€43,567
France	€41,515
Spain	€35,735
Italy	€33,649
Portugal	€26,072
Poland	€14,380

Eurostat Structure of Earnings Survey, businesses with ten or more employees outside public administration, in euro and not adjusted for the cost of living. Reference years differ between sources: the US, Japan and Europe figures on this page come from different survey years, so compare them as rough levels, not to the euro or yen.

Exposure to AI

This occupation sits in the higher third of the 774 occupations scored, with an exposure score of +1.14. The scores are standardized across those occupations, so 0 is the average and a score of 1 is about one standard deviation above it.

Our note on reading it: the dataset links AI applications to the abilities that occupations require, so the score reflects overlap between the two. It is a comparison between occupations, not a forecast about jobs. It does not say whether exposure means tasks are replaced or workers get more done with the tools, and it says little about one employer or one role.

Source: Felten, E., Raj, M., & Seamans, R. (2021). Occupational, industry, and geographic exposure to artificial intelligence: A novel dataset and its potential uses. Strategic Management Journal, 42(12), 2195-2217. Matched to this page by 6-digit SOC code (17-2112).

Is it a fit for you?

Interest is one input, alongside ability, pay and what is hiring near you. The career interests test takes about thirteen minutes and ranks occupations by how closely their profile matches yours.

Take the career interests test