First
Previous
State of Design: The Canadian Report 2010
Employment and Skills
The PD&D process requires a wide range of highly advanced skills throughout its six stages. Approximately 225 000 people are employed in PD&D occupations within the manufacturing and PD&D service sectors.14 The largest share of employment is in technical and scientific occupations. In addition, a large base of product engineers is employed within the process (Figure 14).
[Description of Figure 14]From 1997 to 2001, PD&D employment increased by 25 percent to 245 000. Over this period, employment within the PD&D service industry — which encompasses 15 percent of total PD&D employment — grew by 77 percent, while PD&D employment in the manufacturing sector increased by 20 percent. Following this period, PD&D employment has remained stable in Canada with slight cyclical changes (Figure 15).
The PD&D process also requires highly educated employees. In fact, 47 percent require either a university or a college degree, and another 41 percent of PD&D occupations require at least a university education. As a result, PD&D occupations command close to a 50 percent wage premium over the economy average, with yearly salaries averaging $60 700 and $62 600 within the manufacturing and the PD&D service sector, respectively (Figure 16).
- Date modified:
