Annual state of the industry report raises familiar skills fears

According to the Engineering UK 2017 report industry is going to require 265,000 skilled entrants – including 186,000 engineers - every year through to 2024 to meet demand. But with the proportion of young workers (aged under 25) continuing to decrease there are fears that industry will not be able to meet this demand.

One particular area of concern remains the supply of engineering graduates, which is currently falling well short of the 20,000 per year that the report claims industry needs.

The report also warns that with the UK industry currently highly dependent on engineering skills from the EU and other parts of the world, any post-Brexit tightening of immigration policy and reduction to the perceived attractiveness of working in the UK will have a further detrimental effect on the supply of key skills.

Another issue is gender diversity, with boys far more likely to pursue STEM subjects at A-Level and go onto study an engineering or technology subject at university.