Reported by Matt Long, SCRN

South Carolina is recognized as a national leader in employment for engineers. Numbers released from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics show that South Carolina is second in the nation for employment concentration of industrial engineers, meaning industrial engineers make up an exceptionally large percentage of the workforce.

But it’s not just industrial engineers. South Carolina is sixth for chemical engineers and mechanical engineers as well as fifth for health and safety engineers. South Carolina Secretary of Commerce Joe Taylor says that’s because of the prevalence of companies like General Electric and Duke Energy, along with Clemson and the University of South Carolina.

The presence of the Savannah River Site and numerous nuclear energy facilities don’t hurt, either. South Carolina is first in the nation in the concentration of nuclear power operators and technicians. It’s eighth in the nation for nuclear engineers.

With new investment coming into the state from Boeing, Taylor says to expect the field of aerospace to grow as well.