Professor John Perkins, Chief Scientific Adviser to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has published his review of Engineering Skills - an analysis of the UK's present engineering talent pipeline. Its publication coincides with the start of Tomorrow’s Engineers Week – a campaign to promote the benefits of a career in engineering to young people across the country, particularly to young women.
His review is a call to action to government and the engineering community to inspire future engineering talent and address the skills shortages within the industry. It takes a close look at what the government has done, what it is doing now and what it plans to do in the future to strengthen engineering skills in the UK.
In a timed response, the government pledged up to £30 million in funding in the new year that employers can bid for to address engineering skills shortages in sectors with specific needs. There's also an £18 million investment in a new elite training facility at the Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry (part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult).
In addition, there will be some £250,000 of seed funding to enable Tomorrow’s Engineers to accelerate the nationwide rollout of its employer engagement programme to encourage children in school to consider engineering careers, and £40,000 for the Daphne Jackson Trust to develop a new fellowship that will support people returning to professional engineering jobs after a career break.
Professor Perkins challenges all partners in the engineering industry to work together to attract future engineering talent and by doing so, grow the UK economy. He encourage's employers, educators and professional bodies in the industry to take note and get involved.
The review has been welcomed by representatives of the engineering sector. Nigel Fine, IET Chief Executive, says its recommendations offer a clear way forward to close the engineering skills gap. "The IET has worked for many years to highlight to policy makers, academia and employers that this skills gap needs urgent attention, so it’s heartening that the Review focuses on galvanising all these parties into action to deliver its recommendations," he says. "Only an ‘all hands on deck’ approach can address the problem with conviction.
Nigel Fine also welcomes the call for more industry support for Trailblazers and other high-level apprenticeships, the encouragement of employers to provide more, and better quality work experience for students, and the need to find more innovative ways to raise the profile of engineering among university students.
Stephen Tetlow, chief executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, says the UK urgently needs 87,000 new engineers every year to give our economy any chance of future growth, yet we currently only manage to recruit 51,000. As each day goes by, he estimates the UK loses 100 skilled engineers.
“If we do not meet the shortfall in skills we won’t just slip down the scale of world competitiveness, we will fall off the cliff," he says. "However, with less than 20 percent of all students taking maths beyond GCSE, and an estimated 8.5 million adults with maths skills lower than that of a 10-year-old, the nation simply lacks the available pool of talent needed to innovate and grow our economy.
“In a time of high unemployment, especially in the 18-25 age group, it is simply wrong to rely solely on importing the necessary talent or, more seriously, to allow industry to relocate overseas.
With some 22 recommendation in the review, all of which urgently need government, academia and industry to coordinate and action their implementation, Stephen Tetlow is far from certain that this will be achievable. Julia Chippendale, managing director of EAL, the specialist awarding organisation for industry qualifications, is undaunted and says her organisation plans to reveal a series of new initiatives incorporating Professor Perkins’ recommendations early next year.
Terry Scuoler, chief executive of the Engineering Employers' Federation (EEF) says the report rightly shines the spotlight on the need for a pipeline of talented future engineers, with credible recommendations on how this can be achieved. "Whilst this is a long-term task, the message from employers is clear – we are ready to take on the challenge,” he adds.
But what's the view from the sharp end of business? Duncan Gregson, group CEO of Air Energi says oil and gas projects are growing larger and more resource intensive that ever before. "It’s been highlighted to us that the lack of skilled labour is becoming increasingly acute, and with an expected investment of £13 billion in the UK’s offshore energy industry over the next year alone, opportunities for engineers have never been better," he says.
"In addition, 86 percent of graduate engineers have stated that their post-university career has either met or exceeded their expectations. With statistics like these, the benefits of getting involved with STEM subjects speak for themselves.
"Engineering is an exciting industry that is eagerly awaiting new talent – whether it’s at degree or secondary school level, young people should give serious consideration to studying STEM subjects.”
Les Hunt
Editor