Recent studies have revealed a significant skills gap in the engineering industry. With the industry generating up to an estimated £645bn gross value added to the UK’s economy each year, this gap is particularly alarming.
With many young people lacking the expertise and technical skills needed to work in such an important sector, the following article will explore the skills shortage and what the gap entails and how it can be overcome.
IET Report Findings
The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s recent report has found that less than 50% of new engineering recruits have the necessary technical skills or soft skills to work within the engineering industry.
What does this mean?
This has presented a challenge for employers in the engineering industry. With 45% having to provide more training in various areas, such as using CAD software for engineering, and 25% recruiting fewer apprentices as a result.
Its impact on businesses
With 96% of businesses reporting that the skill gap in engineering has impacted their business in some way. Arguably the most significantly impacted process of this is recruitment. Onboarding new staff, especially those new to the industry, has become increasingly difficult and is also now taking notably more time.
Once recruitment has taken place, companies are then having to dedicate more time, resources, and budget to train those engineering recruits who don’t have all the required missing skills to fulfil their role. This affects both project timelines and financial bottom lines.
Why is this?
With all these problems being caused, it raises the question, why has a skill shortage come to fruition? There is not one singular reason for this shortage, but several factors are thought to have contributed, just some of which include the following:
Covid – It is thought that the Covid-19 pandemic is part of the cause, with general recruitment struggles and an increase in working from home and time off sick being accountable for some of the fall in skills.
Brexit – As anticipated, the UK’s withdrawal from the EU at the start of 2020 has also attributed to the current engineering skills, technical skills and general skills shortage gap. With a shrunken talent pool of potential employees, businesses struggle to find those with the required specialist skills. Other industries, such as manufacturing, have also noted similar labour market problems.
Diversity – Unfortunately, the engineering sector is notorious for its like of diversity. Any sector which has this problem is likely to face the issue of a skill shortage due to a lack of inclusivity. With less than half of all engineering recruits coming from diverse backgrounds.
How Can The Gap Be Closed?
While many businesses have shifted their main focuses to profitability in the wake of the pandemic, it is essential to continue to develop the skills of employees and new engineering recruits to keep them up with industry standards while maintaining a focus on targeted recruitment to hire talented individuals.
As well as shifting the focus back to employment, addressing the lack of diversity and an ageing workforce within the industry would significantly impact its overall engineering skillset. The creation of incentives for less represented groups within the sector could see the workforce and training gap close drastically.
Many businesses in the sector have also stated that they feel increased funding from the government for apprenticeships would help considerably in closing the engineering businesses skills shortage gap.
