You've filled this seat before. The engineer said yes, and the first few months looked fine. Then, about a year in, a resignation letter landed and the search started over. Meanwhile, the engineers who stayed picked up the slack and felt the burnout set in.
Most of what decides whether the next one stays happens before the offer and in the year after it. Each piece is below, starting with the job itself.
Before You Hire Mechanical Engineers, Decide Which Kind You Need
Few engineering titles cover as much ground as this one. The Bureau of Labor Statistics calls it one of the broadest engineering fields. Its work runs from medical devices and batteries to engines, elevators, and conveyor systems.
As a result, two people with the same degree and title can do very different jobs. Picture an engineer who spent five years designing HVAC systems at an engineering firm. She knows codes, load math, and drawing sets.
Now put her on a plant floor, chasing downtime on a stamping line. Her skills only partly carry over, and six months later, neither of you is happy.
So start with the work, before you write the job post. A few questions sort most roles fast:
- Desk or floor? How many hours a week will this engineer spend at a desk versus on the floor, at a site, or in a test lab?
- New or sustaining? Will they design new products, or keep current equipment and products running well?
- Who signs off? Does the role need a licensed PE to stamp drawings, now or within a few years?
- What tools? Which CAD, simulation, and analysis tools does your team use every day?
Match the Role to the Right Type
Your answers should point you to one of the five common types below. Each type tends to cluster in certain industries, and each one calls for a different screen. Pay shifts with the industry, too.
| Type of Mechanical Engineer | Where Many Work | What to Screen For | Median Pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Product and machine design | Machinery makers | CAD depth, design for manufacture | $98,620 |
| Building systems (HVAC, plumbing) | Engineering and design firms | Codes, load math, PE progress | $103,440 |
| Plant and production support | Vehicle and equipment plants | Floor time, root-cause fixes | $105,560 |
| Electronics hardware | Computer and electronics makers | Thermal design, test plans | $106,870 |
| Research and test | Research and development labs | Prototypes, test design | $132,040 |
BLS median pay by industry, May 2025.
If the role looks more like running the whole facility, our guide to hiring a plant engineer covers that generalist profile.
A job post built around the real work also helps candidates rule themselves out. Design engineers who want to stay at a desk will skip a post that says "40% on the production floor." That's one exit you never have to manage.
Why Your Mechanical Engineers Leave
So why did the last one go? Exit interviews tend to say "a better offer," and that tells you very little. In our experience, mechanical engineers usually leave for one of three reasons. You can spot each one early.
The Work Never Matched the Job
The first reason ties back to the section above. When daily work drifts from what the engineer signed up for, frustration builds slowly.
For example, think of a design engineer pulled into constant production firefighting. Or a plant engineer stuck at a desk writing reports. Either one starts looking within a year. That's a fit problem, and it's simple to prevent.
Another Industry Pays More for the Same Skills
The second reason is pay, and the gap between industries is wider than many hiring leaders expect. The most recent BLS data (May 2025) shows a median of $98,620 for mechanical engineers in machinery manufacturing. In scientific research and development, the median is $132,040.
That's a $33,420 gap for people with the same degree. One call from a recruiter at an R&D lab is all it takes to show your engineer that number.
Overall, the spread is even wider. The bottom 10% of mechanical engineers earned less than $73,990, and the top 10% earned more than $164,340. If your pay bands are now a few years old, your best people may sit near the bottom of what a competitor would pay them.
You can keep good people without matching the top-paying industry, as long as you know where your offer sits against the industries that hire the same skills. Then ask which of your engineers those industries would want most.
Nobody Showed Them What Comes Next
The third reason is the quietest. Plenty of mechanical engineers leave employers they like because they can't see a future there. It's also the easiest to fix.
Show the Mechanical Engineers You Hire a Path Forward
A career path only keeps people if they can see it. Tim Griffin is an executive vice president at RMF Engineering and a mechanical engineer himself. In a recent ASME interview, he described a young engineer who quit because he saw no career path at the firm.
Griffin could have named 10 on the spot. The paths were plain to the leader and invisible to the engineer.
That vision gap is common and it costs nothing to close. Talk through the next two or three steps with each engineer at least once a year. Cover the projects they could lead, the credentials that would open new work, and what a promotion takes. Put it in writing so you and the engineer have a record that outlasts fading memories, scope creep or even a change of manager.
Use the PE License as a Retention Tool
For many mechanical engineers, the clearest next step is the Professional Engineer (PE) license. It's the state credential that lets an engineer sign off on work and offer services to the public.
BLS says state licensure generally requires four things:
- A degree from an accredited engineering program
- A passing score on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam
- Typically at least four years of work experience
- A passing score on the PE exam
Out of that list, those four years matter most to you. An engineer working toward a PE needs supervised experience, and your licensed engineers can supply it.
Make sure every pay package covers exam fees, study materials and paid study time. Pair each engineer in training with a licensed mentor. Every support and advantage you can provide your team gives them a concrete reason to stay through the whole stretch. Employees tend to show loyalty to supportive employers when faced with competing offers.
Give Them Real Work Early
Griffin also noted that young engineers lose interest fast when their days fill up with basic drafting, redline cleanup and other mundane tasks. In his view, today's graduates can take on real, challenging work sooner than firms expected a generation ago.
So hand your newer engineers a piece of design work they own from start to finish, even a small one. Ownership builds skill faster and shows them you see a future for them in your firm.
Build a Co-op Pipeline for Early-Career Roles
Planning to hire mechanical engineers straight out of school? A co-op or internship program is the strongest fit test you have. Griffin's firm only hires graduates who have interned there first, and it takes on more interns than it expects to need. Both sides get months of real work together before anyone signs an offer.
ASME's statement on the engineering talent gap makes a related point from the profession's side. Getting a candidate's attention is one challenge, and holding it until they commit is another. A co-op handles both for new graduates. With experienced engineers, a trial period on contract can do the same job.
When to Hire Mechanical Engineering Talent on Contract First
Some roles are hard to pin down until someone is already doing them. A new product line, a first automation project, or a plant expansion can all create mechanical work your team hasn't scoped before. Hiring full time into that kind of unknown is how mismatches happen.
Contract-to-hire gives both sides a working trial. The engineer does the real job for a set period, often a few months. Afterward, you both decide whether a permanent role makes sense.
That way, you see their judgment on your equipment and your projects. They see your team, your pace, and your plant before they commit.
The model also fits short, heavy stretches of work. BLS expects automation to keep driving demand for mechanical engineers. Plants need people to design new equipment and fit it into existing systems. When a project like that has a clear end date, a contract engineer covers the surge. You avoid adding a permanent role you'd struggle to keep busy later.
Contract-first has limits, though. A strong engineer in a stable, permanent job may pass on a contract. For senior roles and licensed PEs, direct hire usually reaches more of the people you want.
How We Screen When You Hire a Mechanical Engineer
Whether you hire mechanical engineer talent for a design desk or a plant floor, our searches start with the work. Before we look at a single resume, our recruiters walk through the role with you.
We cover the mix of desk and floor time, new design versus sustaining work, and the tools your team uses. Our recruiters also confirm whether the role needs a PE now or later. That talk tells us which kind of mechanical engineer to find.
From there, we screen for fit in three ways.
Skills, shown on real projects. Candidates walk us through a recent project in detail: what they designed or fixed, which tools they used, what went wrong, and how they solved it. That story tells us more than a software list ever could.
Work setting. Our recruiters check that a candidate's past settings match yours. Say a candidate has only worked in an office. Before we present them for a plant role, they get pointed questions about floor and site work. Design roles get the same check in the other direction.
Reasons to stay. Every candidate explains why they left their last two jobs and what would keep them in the next one. Our team also checks where they stand on the PE path and how their pay goals compare with your industry's range. If a candidate's goals point somewhere your role can't go, you hear it from us before the interview.
Mechanical roles are a core part of our engineering staffing team's work. To see how that works for your team, explore how we staff mechanical roles. For most searches, we present vetted candidates typically within 48 hours.
Hire Mechanical Engineering Talent With VALiNTRY
If your last mechanical hire didn't last, the next one deserves a different approach. Tell us what the role really involves. We'll find engineers whose skills, work history, and goals fit the job you have.
That's how you hire mechanical engineering talent that's still with you when the next project starts. Call us at 800-360-1407 or start your search online.
Start Your Mechanical Engineer Search
Frequently Asked Questions
Is There a Shortage of Mechanical Engineers?
Demand for mechanical engineers is growing faster than for most jobs. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 11% growth in mechanical engineering jobs from 2025 to 2035, compared with 3% for all occupations. It also projects about 17,800 openings each year, many created when engineers change fields or retire. Those openings keep employers competing for experienced engineers year after year.
How Much Does It Cost to Hire a Mechanical Engineer?
The cost to hire mechanical engineering talent starts with salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, mechanical engineers earned a median of $104,110 a year in May 2025. The bottom 10% earned less than $73,990, and the top 10% earned more than $164,340. Pay also varies by industry, and benefits, relocation, and recruiting costs add to the total.
How Long Does It Take to Hire a Mechanical Engineer?
Hiring time depends mostly on how fast the employer reviews candidates, schedules interviews, and approves an offer. A clear role definition removes the most common delays, so settle the mix of design and floor work and any PE need first. VALiNTRY presents vetted mechanical engineering candidates typically within 48 hours. The full hire timeline then depends on the employer's own interview and approval process.
Do Mechanical Engineers Need a PE License?
Entry-level mechanical engineers don't need a Professional Engineer (PE) license. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, engineers who sell services to the public must hold a license in every state and the District of Columbia. Licensure generally requires an accredited degree, a passing Fundamentals of Engineering exam, typically at least four years of work experience, and a passing PE exam. Many engineers earn the license to lead projects and sign off on designs.