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Poachers through the Nineties and Noughties. We focused on the bottom
line when we should have been laying the foundation for the next
generation. We were shooting ourselves in the feet back when
Prepared by Carl C.de Baca, PLS we were too busy to pay attention to little things like training
technicians or reaching out to the youth in our schools. We got
So… there are some people, NCEES folks being the predominant busy and skipped a whole generation.
group, who will say there is no problem with the number of
surveyors in the US. There are no declining numbers - move According to statistics provided by NCEES, the average age of an
along, nothing to see here. And in a way, they are right. FS examinee is a little more than 34 years old. The average age
Statistically, there are as many licenses now as there were ten of a PS examinee is just over 39. Shouldn’t those numbers be
years ago, or twenty. What are you worried about? There are more like 24 and 26? I was licensed as a PLS at 26. Of course,
plenty of licenses out there. that was 1987 when we were still in surplus years. But it is not
that way no more, folks.
Ah, but licenses aren’t people. I suspect that those who share
the view that there is no shortage and that the statistics So the next time you take a friend’s employee out to lunch to
bear them out are not in the position of trying to recruit new see if they might be interested in jumping ship (and if they have
employees. Run an ad for an LS, an LSI, or an experience cad any co-workers they can bring along), you have no one to blame
technician and see what you get. What you get is an opportunity but yourself when your friend is angry at you. Over the last ten
to poach from your fellow professionals because personnel is in years, you should have been training that extra tech you didn’t
short supply across all categories. There is no one out there on really need, paying a visit to the local high school on career
the waiver wire. And sadly, the lure of filthy lucre is the primary day, teaching the Surveying Merit Badge at a Boy Scout event,
way to pry them out of their cubicle down the street. and finding time to introduce young people to what is a really
cool profession. Let’s hope the Young Surveyors Network can
We can debate the causes of this predicament all day, but the succeed where we didn’t even bother to go.
conclusion is always the same: we were bad boys and girls

The Nevada Traverse Vol.48, No.2, 2021 11