Florida surveyors statistics, how about other States ?

FL/GA PLS., post: 428185, member: 379 wrote: 1,153 are 60 and older (last year was 1,111) 😮

I'm always a little wary of this number because I've seen so many situations where: a) a surveyor retires but keeps his license active into his late 70's, and beyond, because it's part of his identity and that way he has to go the the conference for CEUs every year and hang out with the rest of the old timers like it's homecoming week; and b) guys the same age who have passed on the operation of their company to their sons/grandsons/successors but still come into the office a few hours a week to keep out of trouble.

James Fleming, post: 428190, member: 136 wrote: I'm always a little wary of this number because I've seen so many situations where: a) a surveyor retires but keeps his license active into his late 70's, and beyond, because it's part of his identity and that way he has to go the the conference for CEUs every year and hang out with the rest of the old timers like it's homecoming week; and b) guys the same age who have passed on the operation of their company to their sons/grandsons/successors but still come into the office a few hours a week to keep out of trouble.

If I fall into either of those categories when I'm that age, is be OK with that.

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[USER=136]@James Fleming[/USER]

I agree with you James, the numbers can be misleading. Case in point; I have a Realtors license and CAM (Condominium Association Managers) license neither of which I have ever used but are kept current, as well as two Surveyors licenses. All the CEU‰Ûªs are a pain, but fun just the same.

The real story will come to light when the States share information.
NCEES is saying we have just as many licenses as we had 30 years sgo. Dont panic as there is no shortage of Surveyors.
In my younger days it was rare to see a person licensed in multiple States. Now it is rare to see a person stop at one. As for age it really doesnt matter if the person is hanging on for nostalgia. If so they dont contribute to Surveying business activity. If not we are an aging Profession. Either way we need to start finding Surveyors at a younger age.

Working at a large aerial mapping company, I was surprised at how few licensed surveyors were on staff. I was 1 only 2 or 3.

I don't have any age statistics for Oklahoma. I'm 66 years old and every other surveyor I meet is an old coot. Take that for what it's worth.

What I was able to determine:

1962 licenses issued to date. These break down thus:

10 revoked
20 suspended
93 retired
4 on "hold" (wtf ?)
305 deceased
845 inactive

If my math is right that leaves 685 active licensed Oklahoma surveyors. Out if the entire 1962 licenses issued, 210 of them are held by folks with Texas mailing addresses. Almost double the number of the next neighboring state of Arkansas.

btw - there are only two Oklahoma surveyors with mailing addresses in Oregon....you know who you are. 😉

gschrock, post: 428396, member: 556 wrote: I am in the camp of worrying more about the flow of qualified survey technicians than just about licensed surveyors.
Not sure about the rest of the country but there is a boom going on up here and folks are scrambling to find crews and office techs.
If we can;t get enough folks through the schools and well executed OJT (mentoring, apprenticeships) then we may end up with the qualification for the job being "breathing-on-a-regular-basis" 😉
Unlicensed techs are the "other" backbone of the profession and the tendency only view surveying through the lens of licenses is not helping attract new folks to fill positions on all levels.

I spent a long time as an 'unlicensed tech'. When the Boards locked down the path to licensure for that group it was a huge mistake. There is no incentive to stick around if you cant cobble together 4 years of school. If you're gonna do that why not go for the Engineering dollars?

Speaking as a survey tech (and CST 3) without a degree or the practical means to get one, it frustrates me that there's no alternate path to licensure. I think a two year associates degree combined with an apprenticeship and all the usual requirements should be more than adequate. But hey, not everyone needs to be licensed.

(I know... if you want it bad enough, you'll figure out a way to make it happen. But at my age and given the time for school I'd have, by the time I got licensed I'd be retired.)

I'm in the remainder 1,063 between 40 and 60! just turned 48

I've been pretty skeptical of the idea that our profession is "graying"--mostly because I figure that surveyors get licensed and then stay licensed as mentioned by others above. I'm becoming convinced that's bad logic, especially when comparing our age profile to, say, physicians:

https://www.fsmb.org/Media/Default/PDF/Census/2014census.pdf

I think we definitely have a problem...

Here are the stats for Texas from 2015

Lee D, post: 428538, member: 7971 wrote: Speaking as a survey tech (and CST 3) without a degree or the practical means to get one, it frustrates me that there's no alternate path to licensure. I think a two year associates degree combined with an apprenticeship and all the usual requirements should be more than adequate. But hey, not everyone needs to be licensed.

(I know... if you want it bad enough, you'll figure out a way to make it happen. But at my age and given the time for school I'd have, by the time I got licensed I'd be retired.)

I am in the middle of helping a few people on the non degree path now. It can be done and it's not that bad.
Good luck, Tom