[digitallyfree]

Not sure about the demand for technicians, but I will say that many EEs today don't really have the practical experience that a EE several decades ago would have. I know many students who have never touched a soldering iron, are afraid of working inside a computer, and would not be able to repair a basic piece of equipment. I would imagine that technician support would be needed for those engineers in the lab.

[geomark]

Even several decades when I was a technician most of the new EEs where I worked had very little practical experience. It was worse than them not being able to do basic repairs; their wonderful designs would usually not work and they were unable to figure out why.

[fock]

Well, their jobs got moved to China anyway and they started doimg marketing, so...