RESEARCH REPORT

2023 VOICE OF THE FIELD

SERVICE ENGINEER
October 2023
2023 VOICE OF THE FIELD SERVICE

Table of Contents
Executive Overview 3

Survey Demographics 4

Future Career Plans 5

Likes/Dislikes/Satisfaction 6

Challenges 11

Tools, Technology & Mobility 14

Analyst’s Take 16
EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW
Service Council™ recently welcomed over 300 service and support executives to Chicago for the 2023
Smarter Services™ Executive Symposium. Over the course of three days of advisory board meetings,
keynote presentations and workshops, it became clear that the ongoing talent shortage and
engagement crisis continues to be top of mind for service leaders.

Unfortunately, recent data indicates these challenges will persist for the foreseeable future. According
to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, there are currently 8.8 million job openings — but only 5.7 million
unemployed workers. Additionally, U.S. Census and Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows a shrinking
labor force in age groups 16-24 (the historical entry-level talent pool), despite overall population and
labor force growth.

According to Forbes, labor economists anticipate even lower levels of participation in 2030 for workers
under the age of 45, and a smaller 2030 labor force for age groups 16-34. In June of 2023, Service
Council launched its annual Voice of the Field Service Engineer (VoFSE) survey. The intent of this survey
is to hear firsthand from frontline agents and provide insight into areas such as job satisfaction, future
career plans, engagement, likes and dislikes of their role, thoughts regarding technology and
recommendations for improvement.

This report will:

Summarize the findings revealed in the survey.

Compare the results with previous years to identify areas of improvement, as well
as new and ongoing trends.
Suggest actions management can take to improve the efficacy, engagement and
retention of field service engineers.

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SURVEY DEMOGRAPHICS

What is your age?

This year was our largest respondent
turnout to date, with 2,596
participants. The age of the engineers
ranges from 18 years old to greater
than 75. Ten percent (10%) are 18-24
years old, an increase of 8% from last
year. Fifty-two percent (52%) are 25-44
years old, nearly 16% are 45-54 years
old and 18% are 55-64 years old.

Demographically, this shows some

improvement from 2022’s survey,
which indicated top heavy organizations with nearly half of employees over the age of 45, a quarter of
which were approaching retirement age.

Sixty-eight (68%) of respondents indicated that they have worked in field service for ten years or more,
and 49% of respondents have worked at the same organization for ten years or more. Over 95% of
respondents classified themselves as full-time employees, while 3% classified themselves as part-time
or independent contractors.

The overwhelming majority (69%) of respondents work more than 40 hours per week, while 21% work
between 36-40 hours. This is something that leaders and managers should be considerate of,
particularly as employee engagement and burnout continues to be a struggle.

Field service technicians from 35 distinct industries responded to the survey. The most represented
industries in the survey are:
IT Services Software/Hardware Suppliers
Healthcare Facilities Management and HVAC
Computer Equipment Industrial Equipment and Construction

The majority of participants said equipment repair, maintenance and installation is the primary focus
of their job, while 37% also said that training, inspections and software/firmware-related work was also
a focus. Over half of participants were from the United States while 20% were based in India and 12%
were based in China.

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FUTURE CAREER PLANS

One of the critical areas that the Voice of the Field Service Engineer survey examines is frontline
agents’ future career plans. When asked whether they anticipated being a field service engineer for
their entire career, 55% responded yes, and 45%
Do you anticipate being a field service
responded that they either did not plan to or were not engineer/technician for your entire career?
sure. While these numbers have improved from
2022’s survey, in which only 47% intended to stay in
field service, there is still concern, particularly since
many organizations continue to report difficulty
recruiting new talent.

We also witnessed erosion of engagement in the Gen

Y age demographic (see below), resulting in 80%
indicating their uncertainty with respect to whether or
not they would remain a field service engineer for the
duration of their career. This is a 13% jump year-over-year (YoY) from 2022 in the same age
demographic. While succession planning efforts have served the purpose of managing or planning
against the looming retirement crisis, the engagement crisis has only grown exponentially. We
examine the causal factors eroding engagement below and our recommendations for action steer
organizations with respect to creating greater commitment to the career (spoiler alert: eliminate
friction, create greater definition to career paths, listen and involve in innovation).

When we look at the age breakdown analysis, the numbers show a very different picture. Of those
that said they either didn’t intend or weren’t sure if they would remain in field service:
66% were Gen Z (25 years and below)
80% were Gen Y/Millennials (25-44 years old)
47% were Gen X (45-55 years old)
25% were Baby Boomers (55-75 years old)

Only 28% of those planning on leaving indicated the reason is due to retirement, while 72% indicated other
reasons, such as moving to a new profession or transitioning to remote work.

These numbers indicate that burnout or lack of engagement, rather than the retirement crisis (sometimes

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 FUTURE CAREER PLANS

referred to as the Silver

Tsunami), may be a primary If you intend to leave the field service engineer/technician career, what is
driver for field service the primary driver?
engineers leaving the
profession.

As service leaders continue

to grapple with
unprecedented employee
turnover and high attrition
rates, it is imperative that
they examine ways to reduce
burnout within their field
service teams. In the next
section, we will explore
several areas that may be
contributing to job
dissatisfaction and burnout.

LIKES, DISLIKES AND JOB SATISFACTION

Similar to last year, 66% of field service engineers say they got into the field service profession
because they enjoy fixing things. Interestingly, we have continued to see year-over-year growth in
data that shows more students are studying to become an engineer, which bolsters a trend we have
been tracking at Service Council around the growing sophistication of the frontline agent. We are
hearing from our members that many organizations are removing the nomenclature of “technician”
and instituting the term “engineer.”

The field technician role has traditionally been viewed as a blue collar, grease under the fingernails,
“turn a wrench,” day-to-day job. While this orientation is very respectable and in many industries still

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LIKES, DISLIKES AND JOB SATISFACTION

the case, over the past decade, we have witnessed the job evolve to a white collar career and receive
the well-deserved recognition it has earned. Today’s field service engineer is impacting the customer
experience and encountering complex and sophisticated issues, which require a great degree of
technical certification and educational background.

Why did you select the profession of field service? (Top THREE)

When asked what they like best about their day-to-day role, “solving customer problems” and “fixing
and repairing things” remained at numbers one and two, respectively. It’s also interesting to note that
“learning and acquiring new skills” rose from #6 in 2022, to #3 in 2023, and “learning about new tools
and technologies” increased 9% from 2022.

What do you like best about your day-to-day work? (Please select up to TWO options)

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LIKES, DISLIKES AND JOB SATISFACTION

In terms of dislikes about their role, once again, “paperwork and administrative tasks” and “time spent
looking for information” remained the most disliked aspects of a field service engineer’s job. However,
we also saw “being tracked and traced via GPS or other means” rise considerably this year, coming in
at #3.

What are the least favorite parts of your day-

In terms of dislikes about their role, once again, to-day work?
“paperwork and administrative tasks” and “time spent
1. Paperwork and administrative tasks to service work
looking for information” remained the most disliked
2. Time spent looking for information
aspects of a field service engineer’s job. However, we
also saw “being tracked and traced via GPS or other 3. Being tracked (via GPS or other means)

means” rise considerably this year, coming in at #3. 4. Pressure to work faster or be more productive
5. Travel
Considering that geo-location technology is quickly 6. Feeling isolated from the rest of the team /organization
becoming a crucial – and expected – component of the 7. Technology demands of work
customer journey, the increasing number of engineers 8. Pressure to sell
that are frustrated with being tracked should give 9. Work hours
service leaders pause. While geo-location technology 10. Interacting with customers
will continue to play an important role in organizations’
journeys to predictive service, it’s clear the frontline
still views this technology negatively. It is imperative that service leaders address this disconnect by
clearly communicating the positives that this technology delivers not only to customers, but to the
frontline as well. While customers experience more concise communication on timing and delivery of
service, engineers also have the support of geo-location technology to validate time on-site and
improve safety on-the-job, especially in remote locations.

We also asked several questions regarding how satisfied technicians were with various aspects of
their role and employer. The majority of technicians (over 50%) are either satisfied or extremely
satisfied with their salary and benefits, available training resources and support, and their
organizations’ focus on safety.

While safety satisfaction has risen slightly from 2022, satisfaction in salary, benefits and training has
dropped slightly (3%-6%) from last year. In Service Council’s 2023 Service Leader’s Agenda survey
conducted earlier this year, 74% of service leaders indicated that their organization planned to increase

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LIKES,
LIKES,
DISLIKES
DISLIKES
AND AND
JOB SATISFACTION
JOB SATISFACTION

investment in frontline wages, as well as training and development. It will be interesting to see if these
planned investments have a positive effect on next year’s Voice of the Field Service Engineer survey
results.

How satisfied are you with the following aspects of your role?

One of the more critical callouts from this year’s survey is the frontline’s thoughts on mentoring,
training and career opportunities. At least 1 in 4 respondents reported feeling either somewhat or very
dissatisfied in the following areas:

Career Opportunities (27%)

Mentoring/Guidance from Superiors or Others (26%)
Learning and Development Opportunities (25%)
As we saw earlier, 34% of respondents are seriously considering changing professions, and
dissatisfaction in the above areas may be an indication of why. As service leaders look for ways to
retain talent within their organization, it is crucial that they closely examine and increase activity in the
opportunities they are providing in terms of skills development, career advancement and career
lattices.

Survey takers also responded to several “Yes” or “No” statements regarding their employer. Most
respondents agreed when asked if they felt like their work is important (88%), if they agreed with their
company’s vision, if they understood their company’s goals and strategy (79%), and if they felt well-led
(73%).

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LIKES/DISLIKES/SATISFACTION
LIKES, DISLIKES AND JOB SATISFACTION

Interestingly, 43% responded that they don’t feel like they are recognized when they deliver strong
results, and 42% don’t feel like they are coached in areas where they can improve and develop.

Please provide feedback on the following aspects of your employment:

The survey also asks field service engineers to rate their level of agreement regarding several
statements about how well they felt their company listened to them and cared about their professional
development and overall well-being. Here are the statements with the percentage of respondents that
either somewhat or strongly agreed:

My company cares about my safety and well-being (70%)

Employee engagement is an important issue for my company (55%)
My company is interested in collecting my feedback (55%)
My company cares about my personal development (51%)
My company leverages my feedback to consider improvements that can be made (43%)
My company provides me with career choices should I decide to pursue other options (41%)
My company directly addresses my personal concerns and feedback (39%)
My company recognizes or rewards me on feedback that improves processes or business
outcomes (34%)

Once again, while respondents appear satisfied with safety, the other results indicate a disconnect
between leadership and the frontline. It’s particularly disconcerting to see that, while over half of

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 LIKES, DISLIKES AND JOB SATISFACTION
LIKES/DISLIKES/SATISFACTION

employees feel like their organization is providing opportunities for feedback, fewer actually
feel like their organization translates this feedback into action. For employees, this translates
into one thing: a lack of being heard. As mentioned above, this can lead to challenges such as
poor technology adoption, burnout, lack of employee engagement, and eventually, attrition.

These results also found that 20% feel like their organization doesn’t care about employee
engagement, while 25% feel neutral about their organizations’ employee engagement efforts.
As the talent crisis deepens, results like the above will not be good enough to weather the
storm. In the final section of this report, we will look at recommended actions to improve
employee engagement and retention.

CHALLENGES

When asked how their work has changed since they first started in field service, the vast majority of
field service engineers agreed with the following:

The knowledge required to service products is changing (88%)

The work requires greater technology knowledge (86%)
Products being serviced are much more complex (74%)
Management demands are higher (74%)
Customer demands are higher (73%)

These statements may seem like a “no-brainer” to any service leader. Assets are more complex and
require more knowledge to service. Customer demands are shifting, and the expectation to deliver
predictive, proactive service has increased dramatically post-pandemic. However, it’s important to look
at this through the lens of the field service engineer.

As we’ve seen earlier in this report, a large portion of the frontline is already feeling disengaged and
frustrated by the amount of time they are spending looking for information, while 1 in 4 is not satisfied
with the training and support their organization is providing.

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CHALLENGES

Equipment will continue to grow in complexity as technological advances are made, and customer
demands are not going to subside anytime soon. Therefore, it is imperative that service leaders turn
their attention to removing as much friction for their frontline as possible. This includes ensuring they
are equipped with the training and the knowledge they need to meet these rising demands.

Parts also seem to be an area that is causing friction for the frontline. When we asked survey takers to
rate how easy their organization made it for them to perform different aspects of their job, at least 1 in
4 said that their company doesn’t make it easy for them to:

Know what parts are needed for service visits.

Return used or replaced parts.

Please rate your level of agreement. My company makes it easy for me...

The survey also delved into how engineers were resolving those incidents. The results echo 2022’s
survey, which indicates that, while parts management and parts visibility may be on the roadmap for
many organizations, it has yet to be introduced into tech stacks in a way that reduces friction for the
frontline.

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CHALLENGES

Seventy-five percent (75%) also agreed that their company makes it easy for them to seek help if they
are stuck. When asked how they resolve an instance in which they’re stuck, 81% said they phone a
friend. It is interesting to note that, despite field service organizations investing more in technology
than ever before, phoning a friend has actually gone up from last year.

While it is typically
If you run into a service issue while on a customer site, what is your preferred
viewed as a negative
medium to seek help? (Top THREE)
for engineers to
phone another
colleague for help,
which ties up the
other worker and
therefore reduces
efficiency, we are
witnessing leadership
views on this change.
Field service is an
innately remote job,
and calling a
colleague may help
combat the isolation
and increase overall
morale.

Similarly to last year, field service engineers said that their second and third preferred methods of
seeking help are to call technical support or text a colleague, respectively. Shockingly, using virtual
technology such as Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) or Merged Reality (MR) remained at the
bottom of the list this year. This may be due to the continued lack of widespread adoption of AR across
the industry, as we will see later in this report that the frontline’s positive attitudes towards these
technologies are increasing.

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TOOLS, TECHNOLOGY AND MOBILITY

Another critical area of focus for the Voice of the Field Service Engineer is the frontline’s thoughts on
how available technology impacts their job, as well as the types of tools and capabilities they wish they
had access to in the field.

With regards to mobility, the majority of respondents said that, not only is their smart phone the
primary device they use for field service work, but that it is also their most preferred. When asked how
they felt about the volume of work-related communication they received on their mobile device, 50%
felt it was just right, while 38% felt like it was too much. Additionally, 48% also felt like they were
spending too much time on their phone in their day-to-day work.

Overall, attitudes towards

Has mobility (device/applications/information) made you...
technology have
improved year over year.
Sixty-six percent (66%) of
survey takers said that
available technology
makes it easier to get
work done, which is a
10% increase from 2022.
When asked whether
mobile devices,
applications and
information has made
them more productive,
efficient and
independent, over 80%
agreed that it does.

Digital transformation efforts have accelerated rapidly in recent years. However, many of these efforts
happened in pockets, creating a patchwork of technologies, data lakes and silos, all of which
hampered efficiency and created additional friction in the field. Service Council research indicates that
service leaders have been focusing heavily on interoperability in 2023, and these results may indicate
that service leaders’ efforts have been paying off in terms of removing friction and creating a more
seamless tech stack for engineers.

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TOOLS, TECHNOLOGY AND MOBILITY

The capabilities that field service engineers relied the most heavily on in their day-to-day role were:

Email
Texting
Service Manuals
Navigation Turn-by-Turn
Service Ticket Review and Management

Additionally, more engineers reported increased access to knowledge bases compared to 2022. This
year, only 8% said they did not have access to a knowledge base, as compared to 14% last year.

Survey takers were also asked what capabilities they would like to have access to in the field. At the top
of their wish list were:

Parts Ordering
Service Manuals
Spare Parts Inventory Visibility
Daily Check In and Check Out
Time and Expense Reporting

As seen earlier in this report, parts visibility and ordering continues to impede the frontline. Both parts
ordering and inventory visibility were in the top three last year as well. Knowledge base access has
moved down the list, however, going from #4 in 2022, to #6 in 2023.

The frontline’s thoughts on the ability of new technology to positively impact field service performance
has also shifted somewhat from last year. Attitudes towards training videos, Internet of Things (IoT), and
live video that connects with back-end support remains overwhelmingly positive. Engineers’ perception of
AI also seems to be improving, rising from 29% in 2022, to 42%. This is also true with AR, which rose
from 33% to 49%. Smart glasses also saw a 12% increase.

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ANALYST’S TAKE
Quiet quitting, the term used to describe the engagement crisis, is something that service leaders have
been hearing a lot about lately. While it may sound like a trendy buzzword, it is something that
companies should take very seriously. According to Gallup’s 2023 State of the Global Workplace report,
only 23% of workers are engaged at work. Unfortunately, the Voice of the Field Service Engineer seems
to indicate that these numbers are even greater in field service.

This may sound like a recipe for disaster, but it is not an unsolvable problem and this year’s survey also
highlighted several key points and critical areas that service leaders can focus their efforts on to forge a
successful path forward.

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
CAREER DEVELOPMENT IS CRITICAL
Service Council member, Trane
This year’s survey made clear that the frontline values learning
Technologies, is leading the way
opportunities and want to develop themselves professionally.
with innovative career
Organizations must give employees the opportunity to do so if
they want to build a company and culture that attracts new talent development strategies. The
and retains good talent. While career laddering, career latticing Trane Commercial HVAC
and mentorship programs are an important piece to the puzzle, Technician Apprenticeship
organizations should also consider more non-traditional Program (TAP) is a robust four-
programs such as partnerships with technical and apprentice year program for aspiring
programs. technicians in the United States
that includes paid instruction time
THE FRONTLINE NEEDS TO HAVE A VOICE
and on-the-job training--no
One of the insights gleaned from this year’s survey is that 35% of
experience required. Approved by
field service engineers do not feel like they have input regarding
the U.S. Department of Labor, this
digital transformations at their company. This is particularly
troubling considering that the majority of digital transformation program is designed to grow a
and innovation efforts directly impact them in some way. While robust talent pipeline while
the survey has made it clear that the frontline is willing to providing a rewarding career
embrace technology—and feels it positively influences their pathway for technicians.
ability to do their job — they must also be involved in the Learn more
selection and implementation process from the start.

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RECOMMENDED ACTIONS CONTINUED...
The importance of the frontline to feel heard is perhaps the most crucial takeaway from this report.
Forty percent (40%) of survey takers either responded negatively or had no opinion when asked if their
company was interested in their feedback. Nearly half either felt negatively or had no opinion about their
company’s efforts to leverage that feedback in a meaningful way.

Frequent and meaningful communication is a key pillar of employee engagement. According to Gallup,
employees are nearly three times more likely to be engaged when they talk regularly with their managers
about their goals and successes. Service leaders will need to closely examine the current avenues for
feedback and recognition within their organizations and identify where it is falling short. Leaders should
aim to streamline or refine their processes to make it easy for the frontline to offer their feedback.
Include them in important decisions, recognize achievements, ask for their opinions, and make a
concerted effort to incorporate their ideas into meaningful improvements.

EXTENDED LABOR NETWORKS CAN REDUCE BURNOUT

Nearly 70% of frontline agents reported working more than 40 hours per week. In a post-pandemic
world, employees’ desire for a good work/life balance is higher than ever. Many organizations are
recognizing this and turning to extended labor networks to help ease the burden of overworked staff.
On-demand labor also helps organizations with understaffed teams meet customer demands.
As we saw at the beginning of this report, 34% of field service engineers are considering moving to
either contracted or remote work. Organizations should also consider how they can create more
flexibility in current field service roles, such as more opportunities to work from home, so that it would
deliver the same benefits as these types of roles for current frontline employees.

PARTS CONTINUE TO BE A SOURCE OF FRICTION

A positive takeaway from this year’s survey is that organizations’ efforts to provide their field service
teams with knowledge base access appears to be paying off. However, the lack of visibility into parts
continues to be a major source of friction. As supply chains grow more global in nature, they also grow
more complex, decreasing end-to-end visibility and hindering field service engineers. Organizations
need to prioritize the implementation of technology and intelligence tools if they wish to eliminate siloes
and increase visibility for the frontline.

The 2023 Voice of the Field Service Engineer survey brought with it many positive insights, as well as
opportunities for improvement along the service journey. The frontline enjoys the nature of their role,
and they feel like the work they do is important. However, they also recognize that the job is changing –
customer demands are shifting, the desire for predictive and proactive service is increasing and
equipment is growing more complex. As service leaders plan for 2024 and beyond, they must also ramp
up efforts to ensure their frontline has a voice in what this future looks like.

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