Engineering employers predict education system won’t keep up with technological change

Demand for engineers continues to rise but over half (53 per cent) of employers are struggling to recruit suitably skilled staff, says the 2015 Skills & Demand in Industry report. Published today by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), the report reveals that 61 per cent of employers are least satisfied with skills among graduates – and that two thirds (66 per cent) are concerned that the education system will struggle to keep up with the skills required for technological change.

The report also highlights that while over half (53 per cent) of employers say they are recruiting engineering staff this year, 64% claim a shortage of engineers in the UK is a threat to their business.

This is the tenth year that the IET has published its skills report and the role of education comes under the spotlight, together with ongoing diversity issues in engineering and a lack of both available graduates and more experienced engineering staff.

Women account for only 9 per cent of the UK engineering workforce – and yet 57% of employers do not have gender diversity initiatives in place. Other findings include:

• 69 per cent of employers recruiting graduates report a lack of available graduates
• 68 per cent are having most difficulty recruiting senior engineers with five to ten years’ experience
• 75 per cent do not have LGBT/ ethnic diversity initiatives in place
• 53 per cent feel that Government initiatives for recruiting apprentices are not straightforward
• 94 per cent recognise they have a responsibility to support employee transition to the workplace

Nigel Fine, IET Chief Executive, said: “Demand for engineers in the UK remains high, with supply unable to keep pace – and employers continuing to highlight skills shortages as a major concern.

“Stronger and deeper collaboration between employers and academic institutions is needed to agree practical steps to ensure that young people are suitably prepared both academically and practically before they start work. Supporting and encouraging teachers and academics to spend time in industry – and employers to visit schools, colleges and universities – would also be hugely beneficial.

“Employers also need to recognise the need for workforce diversity and do more to attract recruits from a wider talent pool. This might include looking at other professions, such as medicine and accountancy that have been more successful at attracting a diverse workforce. It also means working with parents and teachers to promote engineering as a creative, rewarding and exciting profession for girls, as well as boys.”

The 2015 Skills & Demand in Industry report is formally being launch at an event at Parliament today (Wednesday 21 October).

Quotes from engineering employers:

Sheila Brown, Director at South Midlands Communications, a specialist in radio, broadcast and communications products, says: “A whole generation has focused too much on the service industry instead of manufacturing, and now productivity, which has led to a gap that the next generation of school leavers need to fill.”

And on the subject of graduate recruits: “We are not convinced that universities are focused on preparing their students for the workplace. They have become funding-driven, not outcome-driven, and seem to have lost the will to link the teaching of STEM subjects to industry requirements.

Universities appear to be more research-focused (as a revenue stream) rather than concentrating on the primary teaching function. In electrical engineering, we have noticed a trend towards focusing on electronics rather than power engineering – is this because it is ‘cheap’ to provide students with printed circuit boards and a box full of resistors and capacitors, rather than need to give practical experience on large motors, generators and switchgear?”

Kevin Payne, Sponsor, Electrical Engineering Graduate Training, London Underground says: “Primary and secondary education, and our broader culture, do not place a strong emphasis on practical engineering questions, and my perception is that 90%+ of teachers have only the flimsiest grasp of what engineering really is.

“There is a crying need to pump really constructive, positive messages about engineering at multiple levels, to get strong role models in front of children, and to inculcate in children the joy of taking things to pieces to find out how they really work.”

Graham Pearl, Engineering Director at dB Broadcast, admits he would like to see more women in his business: “We approach recruitment with an open mind and we would love to see more females in our industry. Technology-based courses do not appear to be favoured by females. We recently had one female applicant for our graduate positions out of 50 applicants – this is an industry-wide issue and in the niche broadcast technology sector it is completely male dominated.”

Notes to editors:

• Interview opportunities are available with IET spokespeople from a broad range of engineering and technology disciplines including cyber-security, energy, engineering skills, innovation, manufacturing, technology, transport and women in engineering.
• The IET is one of the world’s largest engineering institutions with over 163,000 members in 127 countries. It is also the most interdisciplinary – to reflect the increasingly diverse nature of engineering in the 21st century. Energy, transport, manufacturing, information and communications, and the built environment: the IET covers them all.
• The IET is working to engineer a better world by inspiring, informing and influencing our members, engineers and technicians, and all those who are touched by, or touch, the work of engineers.
• We want to build the profile of engineering and change outdated perceptions about engineering in order to tackle the skills gap. This includes encouraging more women to become engineers and growing the number of engineering apprentices.
• For more information, visit www.theiet.org
• Follow the IET on Twitter.