Where Do Drone Operators Work? DRONELIFE Minute Survey
Miriam McNabb
Image: Josh Sorenson, Pexels
Whether you are thinking about getting your Part 107 or already hold your license, you may be wondering where drone operators work. That’s the question we asked our readers in this week’s DRONELIFE Minute Survey.
There are a lot of very significant drone business surveys, and a lot of very official forecasts for the drone industry. The DRONELIFE Minute Survey makes no claim to be either – it’s a way for DRONELIFE to share some of the prevailing buzz that comes our way from readers on a variety of subjects, and for us to track changes over time on topics that we feel would be of interest to our readers and the industry. Recent surveys included pricing in the commercial drone space and the effect of the coronavirus on business at a point in time.
Where do drone operators work?
As the drone industry grows, there are a lot of options for drone operators. They may be able to get business for themselves, working for several different clients. They may work for a drone services provider who gets the jobs and sends them out into the field. Some work full-time for a company in industry like power or construction. Many licensed drone operators do it for fun, or just haven’t quit their day job – lots of Part 107 holders operate their drone part time.
Our Minute Survey asks one simple question for our social media followers to answer anonymously. In this Minute Survey, we gave respondents 4 choices. I work:
Full time for myself
For a service provider
Full time at a company
Part-time
Survey says…
Most licensed drone operators surveyed – more than 65% find their own jobs or work for one company. Another 30% work part-time: only 3.4% work for a service provider.
Full time for myself: 34.6%
For a service provider: 3.8%
Full time at a company: 30.8%
Part-time: 30.8%
If you want to know more about finding drone jobs, check out our previous survey: How Do Drone Operators Get Clients?
Miriam McNabb is the Editor-in-Chief of DRONELIFE and CEO of JobForDrones, a professional drone services marketplace, and a fascinated observer of the emerging drone industry and the regulatory environment for drones. Miriam has penned over 3,000 articles focused on the commercial drone space and is an international speaker and recognized figure in the industry. Miriam has a degree from the University of Chicago and over 20 years of experience in high tech sales and marketing for new technologies.
For drone industry consulting or writing, Email Miriam.
