Operating Engineers

Employers

Construction equipment operators and other construction equipment operators hold approximately 405,750 jobs in the United States. They work for contractors who build highways, dams, airports, skyscrapers, buildings, and other large-scale projects. They also are employed by utility companies, manufacturers, factories, mines, steel mills, and other firms that do their own construction work. Many work for state and local public works and highway departments.

Operating engineers are found in all parts of the United States where new construction projects are underway. States with the highest number of jobs in this occupation, in descending order of employment, are Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina. States with the greatest concentration of operating engineers within a given location compared to the national average are Wyoming, West Virginia, Alaska, North Dakota, and Montana. The metropolitan areas with the greatest number of employed operating engineers include New York-Newark-Jersey City, New York-New Jersey, Pennsylvania; Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, Texas; Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas; Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, Arizona; and Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, Illinois-Indiana-Wisconsin.

Starting Out

Once apprentices complete their training, their names are put on a list; as positions open up, they are filled in order from the list of available workers. People who do not complete an apprenticeship program may apply directly to manufacturers, utilities, or contractors who employ operating engineers for entry-level jobs as machine operator's helpers.