Stuart Nathan
Features editor
The engineering sector is a bright spot in the UK economy, but the looming skills shortage is alarming. The whole community needs to be involved to help solve it.
The annual report from EngineeringUK, the organisation that promotes the interests of the engineering sectors to the public and to government, makes for encouraging reading while simultaneously being rather alarming. While setting out the state of the sector as profitable and productive, it also calls attention to the scale of the shortfall in engineers that the UK is facing in the coming decades, as experienced engineers enter retirement and the nation’s educational establishments struggle to keep pace with the need to replace them.

Faced with the choice of good or bad news first, we at Engineer Towers always prefer to bolster our spirits before gazing into the dreadful abyss. So let’s start with the cheerful stuff: in 2014, the report says, engineering contributed £455.6bn to the UK’s GDP, and was 68 per cent more productive than the retail and wholesale sectors. It directly employed 5.5 million people, of whom two-thirds are qualified engineers or technicians, and supported 14.5 million other jobs; and for every new engineering job created, two more are created in other sectors.
While the UK remains a less productive economy than others in Europe, with labour productivity 17 per cent lower than our competitors (possibly owing to factors such as lack of investment and mis-measurement), it was the fastest-growing economy in the G7 group in 2015.
The profile of the engineering sector is one that may surprise even insiders. Rather than being dominated by large players, almost four-fifths of all engineering companies employ four people or fewer, and although only 0.4 per cent of employers have over 250 people working for them, these employ 42.5 per cent of all engineers work. This still means that a significant majority of engineers work for what would be categorised as an SME; companies which often lack the funding or facilities for in-depth training. As we shall see, this could be very significant.
Going around the country, the report says that Scotland saw the greatest growth in engineering enterprise turnover, although businesses in the London region showed the greatest revenue and growth. The report notes that the think tank Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) recommended a shift in job-creation towards higher-productivity sectors, while encouraging firms to invest in their employees; while government intervention has focused on supporting infrastructure and skills.
But the skills gap is still a great cause for concern. The report says that between 2012 and 2022, UK engineering companies will need to recruit 2.56 million people; of these, 257,000 will be to fill new vacancies rather than replacing people. 1.82 million of these recruits will need engineering skills: that’s 182,000 per year. Of these, 56,000 will have to be at the equivalent of Advanced Apprenticeship level (also known as Level 3), and 107,000 at undergraduate degree or HND/C level or above (Level 4).
But currently, the annual numbers entering at Level 3 are 27,000 and 66,000 at Level 4. Clearly the shortfall is large; and these numbers indicate it’s not just a matter of attracting experienced people who want to change jobs, although anecdotally we know that these people sometimes face difficulties from employers who are unwilling to help them retrain for a position related to, but not directly following on from, their previous experience. Possibly the resource difficulties of SMEs may be playing a part here, as noted above.
The difficulty doesn’t seem to be in keeping engineering graduates and apprentices in the sector: the report shows that very few end up in sectors like finance and insurance, which have sometimes been suspected of leeching away prospective engineering talents with the lure of higher pay; in fact, over two-thirds of engineering trainees (for want of a better description) in full-time employment after three years are in engineering occupations. Rather, it’s our old familiar problem: getting schoolchildren into STEM-related courses: and that goes from picking GSCEs with physics and maths content, to taking science A-levels, and then studying engineering at university; or going into apprenticeship schemes at 16 or 18.
The situation does seem to be improving. Five years ago, the report says, 27 per cent of 11-14 year olds thought engineering was a desirable career, and 37 per cent of 15-16 year olds would consider a career in engineering; in 2015, those figures had risen to 43 per cent and 49 per cent respectively. A larger amount of coverage of engineering and more favourable depiction in the media might be responsible; encouragingly, we’ve just learned that London’s Victoria & Albert Museum is launching its first ever engineering season this year, including a special exhibition devoted to Ove Arup. “We may not know it, but engineers organise the world we live in,” comments V&A director Martin Roth. Really, Martin? You work over the road from Imperial College! If you didn’t know it, what hope is there for anyone else? But sarcasm aside, this is a very welcome (if seriously overdue) development. The opening of the new Design Museum site down the road in Holland Park this year will also be welcome; but these institutions are obviously not accessible to many.
Lack of information about the realities of engineering is an obvious issue for schools. Nobody is exposed to engineering at school directly, and the applied maths modules of GCSE and A-Level only gives a taste of engineering calculations. There’s some in physics, and maybe in the better-equipped CDT workshops; but going from school to engineering, whether as a degree or apprenticeship, is going to be a step into the unknown. Teachers don’t have the knowledge to prepare students for that (and with their existing workload, can hardly be expected to), so it has to fall to careers advisors, who need help. Engineering employers have to engage more with local schools to give students more idea about what they do, and the Engineering Associations need to increase their involvement too. This is especially true for reaching out to underrepresented groups, particularly girls: the EngineeringUK report is adamant that the gender balance has to be addressed. It has hardly shifted in 30 years, and the potential skills the sector is missing out on can’t continue to be wasted.
Is money a problem? Anecdotally, yes: if there’s one thing we can count on whenever we cover this issue, it’s respondents bemoaning their lack of salary. But hard evidence doesn’t bear this out: engineering starting salaries are 20 per cent higher than the average graduate starting wage. Is this skewed by London wages? Undoubtedly: all salary averages are. It might hardly be fair that Scotland has the largest growth in engineering enterprise turnover but lower salaries than London, but that’s the reality of the UK. At least the cost of living is also lower (not much consolation, we know, but if there’s a straw, we’ll clutch it).
What is certainly worrying is the comments we receive from people who say they wouldn’t recommend engineering to their children. It’s worrying because research indicates the one thing that’s almost guaranteed to get young people to take seriously the idea of an engineering career, and the best way for them to understand what it involves, is to have a member of the family in the profession. Engineers complain – everyone complains – but this is something that they should be aware of.
We need to double the number of people entering engineering at the training and education level, EngineeringUK says. We also need to ensure there are enough STEM teachers; which is not a trivial matter and may be as challenging as the other target. It’s not something we can ignore, and it’s something the engineering community needs to be more involved with.
As readers will have noticed, we’re now on a new website platform, and adding functionality all the time. We’ve now done away with the need for commenters to go through a lengthy registration process, so feel free to let us know your opinion. We’ve also regained our ability to create polls, which we can now embed into articles. This week’s poll relates to the EngineeringUK report, so if you haven’t responded yet, please do.
In summary, we need the companies that can design, engineer, manufacture and then sell the products they conceive. Creating these companies from scratch is very hard and there is no support to help you on your way. My company has been fighting for 10 years and we are slowly getting into a position to be able to push harder and develop further. We are starting to sell our products internationally as they are recognised as being exceptional in their field. But the personal cost has been high. As a company we have taken a long term view and it is slowly starting to pay off as we make high end products. Sadly, many in the UK have no concept of that long term vision and what it actually takes to get into a position for a manufacturing company to succeed. In the words of Steve Jobs “An overnight sensation takes years to create” – relating to Pixar Animation.
What a shame it is that with our rich cultural heritage in engineering, we are renowned the world over, we cannot seem to get children excited about a career in engineering? I was trained in the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft Electrical Fitter with added Instrumentation skills but most fondly remember having a ‘can do’ mentality instilled into me in whatever job was required to be done.
Don’t agree at all, just think this is all rhetoric. Why are the companies so choosy when it comes to taking on engineers if there is such a shortage, there are also companies taking on graduate engineers on volunteerships so not only have baby boomers increased the the cost to study the real wage has stagnated also.
Engineers are a requirement for our economy, but if you think the private industry is looking like its got a shortage you are just removed from reality. Petroleum engineering graduates from 2014 and 2015 are working in retail right now.
We need good people in engineering, and that means people who can do the academic side but also have a ‘feel for stuff’, a feel for what will work and what won’t. Schools mostly do an OK job on the academic side, there are some great teachers and lots of OK ones. But the practical side ? It is far too small, whatever age you look at. That means we have to get smart children getting hands on, getting a feel for stuff. So get out there people, like I do; get down to it with Meccano, a shed, some wood and screws, and get them started making stuff. And when you’ve got your kids going, get going with other kids in schools, in science and engineering clubs. I’ve had a lot of fun doing this, and had the satisfaction of seeing quite a few kids go on to great careers.
My son is an MEng who’s very creative and a most enthusiastic engineer who I’m sure would be a great asset to any company but he hasn’t found a decent engineering job yet. The problem is that all graduate jobs seem to be via private employment agencies and it’s in their interests to keep the applicants as far away from the employers as possible. Consequently, he’s expected to apply for jobs, often without being told who or where the employer is and what they produce.
I read in ‘People Management’ magazine recently that there is a growing concern that what the recruitment agencies are passing to the employers are good ‘box tickers’ because they’ve been through the same filters but they’re not the sort of people who step out of the box to be the future’s innovators, movers and shakers.
I am a recruiter within the engineering sector and although I tend to recruit senior positions some of my long standing customers will occasionally ask me to find them a grad. They are near impossible to source. Happy to take a look at your son’s CV, please note that many of my customers are in the North West and Yorkshire areas.
Engineering Companies should revert to recruiting directly themselves.
Mothers as well as fathers influence their childrens ambitions and should be the focus of schools, colleges,universities and engineering companies.
U3A ( University of the Third age) with their strong membership and wealth of expertise should engage with schools up and down the nation to impart their knowledge and inspiration
I hadn’t considered it until Ventus and Kevin mentioned it but the outsourcing of recruitment for engineers almost certainly has a lot to do with it. We’ve done it at the company I work at and the agency we use are terrible at producing decent candidates for engineering roles; they submitted 2 CVs for apprentices in 2015 for one of our sites that historically took on 5-10 a year. Note that’s the number we used to take on, not the number we had apply! A non-engineer recruiting for engineers is going to create a barrier, they’re going to be looking for the wrong things or not understanding what the actual requirement is at the front end. In the actual interviews the prospective line manager is present but that’s not much good if 80% of the candidates have been screened out before that. Get engineers involved in the screening process as they know what to look for and then have them there for the interview to ask more technical questions.
Just a few questions, do good Engineers go into teaching? is it still possible? do schools have Lathes, Milling machines and workshops. ?
The new TV ad promoting teaching looks very good especially the wages they quote + Hols
A comment on our poll page indicates that it is certainly difficult to get engineers to become lecturers. As for equipment in school workshops, maybe some teachers could help us out here…
It is no surprise there is a shortage of engineers, for most of my working life the emphasis appeared to be drive people from the trade, many left to take up work in areas that held a higher status level, milkman was a good choice for a while until milk delivery rounds become scarce, Others like me set up our own companies, most not to build an ’empire’ but just to survive so the numbers working in small companies as quoted here is no surprise at all. The situation is totally beyond sense, the only way this country is to have a truly buoyant economy and pay it’s way is through manufacturing and yet we still do not want to pay and treat engineers properly.
I noticed that the image accompanying this article showed four young lads. This is not uncommon in articles in this website.
Perhaps the editor could think about including an image of a female engineer or female student from time to time.
Please end the gender bias!
We need girls at school to become engineers as well.
I agree. And perhaps a bit more colour too!
I am an Engineer (38yrs) and have just started Teacher Training (Design & Technology) yes some schools do still have lathes, milling machines, workshops and they do get used, in varying amounts. D&T departments are loosing hours teaching in the week as a result of national Curriculum changes – some D&T Teachers work part time, others are being expected to teach all disciplines in order that the school can shift teacher numbers to EBACC areas. Some schools have already dropped work experience weeks as it takes time of curriculum teaching and the drive for higher grades in EBACC subjects. There are still a good number of pupils interested in Engineering. – I agree with the comments regarding employment agencies, but a good number of potentials are filtered out way before this stage as the arrangement of subject groups at GCSE selection time are arranged in a way that prevents a ‘real’ personal subject choice. All is not lost – that time is close and will continue to get closer unless some serious talking and listening is done followed by prompt high level decision making based on what is right for the future of this country and based on that alone.
do schools have Lathes, Milling machines and workshops. ?
Not if they want to avoid litigation! There is clearly now a parallel society present within ours! One which believes that every accident, every honest error, every sincere effort which may (because of unperceived circumstances) go sadly wrong -is the cause and reason for a writ! And guess which group encourages this: not because they feel ionately that the ‘victim’ deserves to be compensated but because they will profit from ‘conducting’ the mater. From alleged misconduct in the minor wars we occasionally (constantly?) feel the urge to join to ambulance and ‘garage repairs’ chasing lawyers keen to earn more….the economics and morals of the mad house.
I wonder what those so-important persons who provide our ‘patent-protection’ feel about their brothers-in-law. Not a lot I hope, though I imagine they will not be shouting such from their particular roof-tops. I presume that, were they so inclined, HMQ’s Judges could stop the rot at 0900 tomorrow morning: but what possible incentive is there for them to do so. ‘They’ and their ancestors (same families appear time and again stretching back to the 16th century) have had their hands in the national till for so long (and indeed our individual pockets and purses) what possible reason would they have to change that! Deal with that and who knows what might happen to UK plc?
My old school had a woodworking lathe, but that was a long time ago!
Yes they do – In my teaching experience so far visited four secondary schools – all had lathes (wood & metal) two have aluminium casting pits, brazing hearths, welding (MIG and TIG) and still a lot of teachers wanting to do their best for Engineering.
Hi Mike
My nephew started out as a trainee chef. He wasn’t allowed to use a knife until he was an 18 year old. I think that adds some weight to the theme of your blog. Will we ever pull out of all these restrains, clearly motivated as you mention’ avoidance of litigation’. I think we have the burgeoning number of ambulance chasing lawyers to thank for that.
Regards John
In reply to Andrews comment needing more girls to become engineers. Both of my daughters were top set in maths and physics and achieved top grades in their exams. As an engineer myself, I obviously tried to encourage them towards a career in engineering. I had asked if they enjoy these subjects, as they clearly have an aptitude for them and if they like problem solving. They said yes they did but just because we enjoy it doesn’t mean we want to do it for a living!
One has gone on to do languages and the other is in zoological research.
I worked in an engineering company in Germany for over 30 years and we built up the turnover from a dept. with 5 people and 250.000 Euros to over 10 million 15 years later with 30 employees. The whole company, the MD, accounts, sales support, salesmen and the applications dept. was staffed solely by apprentice trained people. The company is now a world market leader in 3-D metal printing and is worth 200 million Euros – and now employs university trained engineers for research work .
However the company, 260 employees in the meantime , still relies on apprentice trained staff for all other aspects of the business. I recommend yet another look at the Germany vocational system
Very best regards
Ron Simmonds
I was at a CBI conference last year which discussed in detail the skills shortage. I would encourage my kids (son and daughter) to pursue a career in engineering, however it hasn’t escaped my memory that in 2009 employees from engineering and manufacturing companies were being laid off left, right and centre. Or having their hours and/or salaries reduced. I think the country (government) needs a strong long-term engineering strategy. If we are to encourage engineering as a career choice we must do our best to ensure it is a secure and stable environment in which to forge that career.
People in Engineering (I cannot in all honesty call them Engineers without some evidence) who think the status of Engineers is low and keep wingeing about it can clearly not get all these better paid and better respected jobs outside the profession they so despise. Which is a shame for a profession which would be so much better off without them.