With off-shoring, H1-B Visas and sending our technical projects to China/India/Singapore where the labor is cheaper - the days of the "Engineer" are pretty much gone. I can't say I'd recommend an engineering degree to anyone.
If I had been smart, I'd have pursued a degree in Healthcare Administration. I'd have a much higher salary, job security and expanded opportunties. Plus, no Theoretical Physics, Differential Equations, Advanced Calculus, Number Theory, Thermo/Dynamics/Statics, Materials Science, Antenna theory - the classwork would have been exponentially easier.
While it might not be exactly what they signed up for when they persued an engineering degree, there are still plenty of jobs out there for those with the degrees. There are jobs for project managers, quality managers, requirements' analysts, customer liasons, sales reps, etc. that are highly dependent on engineering backgrounds, and that are not nearly as outsourced as the actual engineer work.
Again, that might not be what they wanted to do, but they can continue to work in an engineering-related company or project.