State of the UK Engineering Industry

In recent years, the state of the UK engineering industry has been comparable to challenges being faced on a global scale. The pendulum swing has gone from seeing recruiting companies report a ratio of half the amount of available positions to double the amount of available candidates, to now finding the Department for Energy jobs and Climate Change estimating the renewable energy sector could create as many as 500,000 new jobs as of 2020.

The industry is facing a rather large employment gap and the reasons for this are also shared globally. While the UK’s manufacturing sector has performed better than the overall economy, there remains dire need to recruit nearly 600,000 new workers to replace those retiring or leaving for various other reasons.

Concurrently, there is an urgency to bring the existing workforce up to reflect the expected skill levels. There are a percentage of technicians employed at level 3 qualifications or above who are only performing at level 2. Additionally, there are funding challenges that could hinder both the supply of qualified new-hire technicians as well as the up-skilling of existing workers. Funding currently ceases for a first level 3 qualification if the potential student reaches age 25 or older at course commencement.

The prospect of obtaining skilled STEM technicians of the future is in decline as unemployment amongst those aged 19-years plus in the UK is higher compared to other countries. Of greatest concern is the participation in Further Education in the areas of engineering, manufacturing, construction, planning and the built environment, and information and communication technologies. March of 2010 found nearly 100,000 16 to24-year-olds unemployed. Youth unemployment is predicted to reach the one million mark as one in ten aged 16 to 18 struggles to make the transition from school to further education or employment.

Further studies have shown that companies which have a higher level of gender diversity within top management positions achieve domination over their peers. When you consider that the UK has the lowest proportion of female engineering professionals in the EU, as low as 8.7%, this presents a great opportunity for those looking to establish themselves in the ranks. The engineering sector in the UK constitutes nearly a fifth of its economy, that’s about 20% of GDP, and employs over 4.5 million people. The projections indicate the necessity to actively develop new recruitment strategies.

The goal to achieve a low carbon economy and maintain an economically vibrant engineering sector needs a wider recruitment net to be cast to include those young people who currently fail to get a job. It will be vital for young people to have access to education pathways into engineering, and in particular, as respects those at risk of falling into the NEET (not in education, employment or training) category. One of those recruitment nets happens to be the job boards found on the Internet as they cover a much wider expanse of jobs available than would be found in local publications.

The 2008 Climate Change Act requires a reduction in carbon emissions by 80% as of the year 2050. Financially, the case for focusing on the response to global climate change is strong. In 2008, the global market for goods and services related to lowering carbon was worth £3 trillion and the projection going forward is anticipated to reach £4.5 trillion by 2015. The UK market worth alone already exceeds £100 billion annually with the expectation that it will surpass £150 billion.

This unprecedented scale of investment necessary to meet the challenge of climate change and renewable energy exceeds historical values and presents a scale not seen since the period of reconstruction following the Second World War. Tackling this major challenge will only be conquered if the inter-dependency between economic growth and environmental emissions can be broken. The challenges ahead for UK engineering are to replace, upgrade and decarbonise. 

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