If you’ve come across Tomorrow’s Engineers Week, you’ll know it took place in November, a couple of weeks back.
And it’s a great initiative, designed to ensure that both employers and educators engage young people in the world of engineering.
What’s the point? Well, based on recent estimates from Engineering UK, engineering companies will need 265,000 new employees PER year for the next six years.
That’s a lot of engineers.
There’s been a huge shortfall over the last three years, across electrical and mechanical engineering, with lots of companies failing to fill key positions.
And it’s not a trifling matter – engineering contributes £486 billion to the UK economy, and accounts for 20% of all the UK’s jobs.
But fewer engineers equal less innovation and less growth, and unless we get more engineers in, the pivotal role that the UK plays in the engineering space will diminish, as will its market share.
And that’s where initiatives like Tomorrow’s Engineers Week come in, and it doesn’t end there.
I’ve done quite a bit of reading on the subject, and what’s clear is that engineering is doing a whole lot more to encourage more engineers.
Like Bath University dropping the requirement for a Physics A-Level in order to get on an engineering course.
Like the IMechE report that suggests more of an engineering focus in schools.
Like the calls for companies to be more creative by looking into complementary industries for people who could make the move into engineering.
But is it enough? What do you think?
I’d love to know more about your experiences with filling engineering vacancies and your take on how we can close the ever-growing skills gap – drop me an email and let me know.
