Engineering news
The report, published jointly by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC) and IHS Markit, shows that demand for permanent and temporary employees continues to grow. Despite that, April saw the sharpest drop in applications for both categories over the past 16 months and across a wide range of industries.
“We have the lowest unemployment rate since 2005, and people already in work are becoming more hesitant about moving jobs amid Brexit uncertainty,” said Kevin Green, chief executive of REC, which surveyed 400 recruitment agencies. He added that “the weakening pound and lack of clarity about future immigration rules is putting off some EU nationals from taking up roles in the UK”.
The shortage of candidates could have wider implications, warned Green: “The exceptional reputation UK engineering enjoys globally is at risk, because employers can’t find people with the skills they need.”
The head of EngineeringUK, Paul Jackson, told Professional Engineering that he wasn’t at all surprised to see that engineers were in high demand given the current shortage of engineering skills in the UK. “As an industry, engineering needs to be able to attract the brightest and best available talent. It requires a big investment in education and training to drive up numbers across its diverse sectors,” he said.
According to Philip Greenish, chief executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK has been struggling for a while to fill engineering jobs, which is why the country "has always welcomed talented people from overseas and ... will continue to need inward migration of engineers for the businesses and industries that are so important to society and our economy."
He argued that boosting domestic engineering talent has to be one of the priorities for the next government after the election.
The UK government recently introduced an apprenticeship levy to make engineering a more appealing career choice, however Jackson warned that this “doesn’t seem to be encouraging apprentices at level three and above. There needs to be an urgent rethink on how it can be effectively applied to get skills to the level required, if we are to ensure economic success.”
There are deeply rooted cultural reasons why engineering may not excite students and graduates in the UK, largely to do “with a family or regional heritage,” said Peter Finegold, head of education and skills at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. “It is therefore difficult for many young people to imagine themselves into a role they may not even know exists.”
A solution to this could be an education system that makes engineering more explicit as a way of framing our world, and “more closely entwined with careers guidance,” he added. “Authentic work experience where young people experience the modern world of work – and this includes undergraduate engineers.”
The Royal Academy of Engineering is currently developing an Engineering Talent Project, which - as part of a five-year campaign - hopes to rebrand engineering for young people and change their perceptions of it. In parallel, the Academy also is working on a programme to increase the inclusiveness of engineering workplaces.