The increasing integration of additive manufacturing is also affecting the 3D printing job market. Companies are looking for qualified employees to strengthen their team and further advance 3D printing. However, finding suitable candidates in this field is often a challenge. One of the reasons for this is that candidates are required to have specific knowledge and skills that are difficult to acquire. Most companies find that the lack of knowledge about 3D printing is an obstacle when recruiting. The industry is constantly changing and the 3D printing job market is constantly looking for new profiles, which is also evident on our job board. In 2021, more than 430 job offers were published on the 3Dnatives websites (excluding the Italian one), a whopping 30% more than in 2020.
In order to provide an overview of the current job market in the field of additive manufacturing and to identify the most important trends in the industry, we took a closer look at the published job offers. We note that companies specializing in 3D printing (manufacturers of 3D printers, distributors, service providers, etc.) continue to expand their teams, and technical profiles are particularly in demand. Industrial companies are no different, which is a testament to the fact that additive manufacturing is increasingly being integrated into manufacturing processes. Let’s take a look at the most in-demand profiles in additive manufacturing for 2021!
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Long-term contracts on the rise
As might be expected, most companies have long-term employment contracts. Since most companies want to plan for the long term, there were around 350 open-ended vacancies on the 3Dnatives job board. An indicator that the players are betting on 3D printing and want to continue investing in the technology and its growth in the future. Looking at the market as a whole confirms this fact. Several companies have announced or continued to expand this year, including: B. Desktop Metal with numerous acquisitions in the past few months.
The companies also advertise internships and student jobs. These account for around 19% of the vacancies. An indication that there seems to be more and more training courses in the field of 3D printing at an international level. Marine Coré Baillais, founder of Pâtisserie Numérique, explained this phenomenon on the 3D printing job market03 for 3Dnatives as follows: “In France there are already very good training courses in 3D printing, which is certainly an advantage for French companies. Many students dealt with metal 3D printing, a market with a future. I also believe that it is also up to us, the employers in this sector, to create more career opportunities!”
Image: 3Dnatives
Above all, technical profiles are in demand
Once again, it is technical profiles that are most in demand from companies in the sector. In addition to engineers, 3D technicians and designers, companies are increasingly looking for technology experts. Markus Seibold, Vice President for Additive Manufacturing at Siemens Energy and Materials Solutions, explains to us: “To support the expansion of our series production, we are looking for industry experts who are familiar with the specifics of additive manufacturing and at the same time have experience in the areas of lean and process automation.” And this trend also appears to be continuing among smaller companies. Marine Coré Baillais adds: “We are looking for profiles to work on the development and industrialization of our new food 3D printer. Mechanics, electronics, biochemistry, automation, human-machine interface, UX… The fields are diverse and require a variety of skills”.
As the 3D printing market becomes more important, profiles in sales are also gaining popularity. Business developer, sales manager and sales representative are among the professions that are important today for the different players and are therefore valued more. In 2021, 18.31% sales vacancies were posted on the 3Dnatives Job Board.
Image: 3Dnatives
Adaptation of additive manufacturing
As mentioned earlier, the additive manufacturing industry is growing rapidly. Since one innovation chases the next and the technology offers many advantages, e.g. B. lower production costs, weight reduction, increased flexibility, companies are increasingly relying on additive manufacturing. It is therefore not surprising that 3D printer manufacturers in particular are looking for new team members with 113 published job offers. Sarah Romero, head of human resources at the Spanish manufacturer BCN3D, confirms this: “3D printing is booming worldwide, it is growing strongly and the market is consolidating. More and more new profiles are being sought and we are seeing the gap between supply and demand in the 3D printing sector narrowing. A few years ago there were fewer professionals specializing in our technology to fill the vacancies, but this gap between demand and supply is narrowing significantly, which is good news.” Industry and retail follow at number 2 and 2, respectively. 3.
If you want to integrate 3D printing into your production process, the right 3D software also plays a major role. These are becoming more and more powerful and are now an indispensable part of additive manufacturing. For this reason, the number of companies specializing in the development of 3D software is also growing. The automotive and aerospace industries are longtime users of additive manufacturing and together post 7.78% of job vacancies.
SMEs at the heart of the market
Although one might think that large companies post most of the job vacancies, small and medium-sized companies in particular are very active. With 33% of the offers, SMEs with 11 to 50 employees are among the most in demand in the industry.
However, this does not change the fact that larger companies are also looking for new employees. Companies with at least 51 employees are right behind with 31% of the offers. After all, 20% of companies with more than 5,000 employees are also looking for new talent. BCN3D says the following: “We are looking for very different profiles for our technology because we are a comprehensive company and even develop software solutions. We are therefore looking for qualified profiles who can demonstrate both professional and academic experience.”
Image: 3Dnatives
The full 3D Printing Job Market 2021 infographic can be found HERE. What surprised you most about the 3D printing job market in 2021? Tell us what you think and contact us. Would you like a summary of the most important news in 3D printing and additive manufacturing directly and conveniently in your mailbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter now and follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date! You can also find us on XING and LinkedIN.
