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From a certain point of view, the problems facing British engineering might seem quite nice to have. Certainly, it would be hard to argue that the profession – which is expected to contribute £600m to UK GDP by 2020 – is unappreciated, poorly compensated, or lacking in good opportunities. The engineer’s life is, by all accounts, a pretty good one. The central issue is that there simply aren’t enough of them.
After considerable growth in 2014, the industry’s health has deteriorated to the point where it’s almost flatlining. As a built environment recruiter, I can offer some anecdotal evidence of this: a dearth of qualified talent has forced many of my clients to put important projects on hold. For the moment, we may get away with attributing this to the looming referendum, which will have significant implications for engineering, staffing, and the national economy.
This is, however, a half-answer at best. 55,000 engineering positions go unfilled every year, and the reasons why have little to do with the EU.
A problem with many causes
The current skills shortage is a result of both situational problems such as the impending referendum and embedded, long-term, systematic issues. Things like the 2014 oil price crash or the 2008 recession are the result of unpredictable financial and economic considerations, and can’t be effectively protected against. On the upside, they do tend to pass – eventually. The longer-term problems will be rather harder to tackle.
Many companies, for example, are making insufficient efforts to attract new engineers. The modern employee has rather different expectations than the workforce of yesteryear: they grew up anticipating a life lived in a cubicle, between 9am and 5pm. But where they demanded nothing from their employer save their salary, the new generation wants rather more. Benefits such as flexible working are considered entitlements rather than special perks, and if a company doesn’t offer them, they’ll be at an immediate disadvantage.
In a candidate-driven market, these organisations must bend to accommodate these preferences. This doesn’t mean buying foosball tables, hiring a company masseuse, or introducing Disco Fridays: it’s simply a matter of adapting to the way they work instead of making them adapt to their professional culture. If businesses do so, they’ll attract more candidates and stand a better chance of retaining them – people aren’t typically inclined to leave if they enjoy the work and see a future at the company. It may stick in the craw, but those who can adjust to times of scarcity have a better chance of surviving into times of abundance.
Education, education, education
More pressing than the need for individual businesses to make themselves alluring is the need to make the engineering profession more attractive. The UK education system is remarkable in many respects, but it is not without its flaws: a choice made in secondary school – and without the right information – can block off several different career paths. By the time engineering seems like an appealing choice, it’s often too late.
The US education system is rather more forgiving: it doesn’t force students to specialise until the end of their first year at university. Adopting it would require an overhaul of the UK’s entire didactic method, so in the short term, there needs to be more exposure to engineering at school level.
It certainly won’t be hard to make it interesting. This country has a rich history of engineering marvels, from Bazalgette’s intricate, life-saving sewer network to Brunel’s Great Western Railway. It should be included in the core curriculum – science and history would be obvious places to start – and outside of it: companies could easily send engineers to host talks, workshops, and presentations.
The more pupils get interested, the more they’ll enrol on engineering courses – increasing the talent.
Fixing a hole
There’s an expectation across the industry that the post-referendum world will be much brighter for the engineering profession. It’s certainly not wrong: I fully anticipate something of a resurgence myself. But whether the result buoys the industry or not, it’s essential that more action is taken – by companies and governments alike – to correct its more persistent problems.
As any good architectural engineer will tell you, it doesn’t matter how pretty the building is if it doesn’t have stable supports.