Young engineers Recession
issue
Generation
A future ‘generation gap’ of engineers is unfolding in the building services sector, which has been pumping out its lifeblood during the
recession. Carina Bailey reports
T
he stream of young engineers seeping from the building services sector because of the recession is draining the industry of its lifeblood, many in the profession fear. Anecdotal evidence,
and our own jobs survey on p46, suggests that a large number of young and graduate engineers have been made redundant in the past 18 months because of the slowdown – and their skills may be lost for ever. Even CIBSE’s Young Engineers’ Network (YEN)
London Centre has not remained immune, with four committee members losing their jobs since the crisis began. Eventually, all but one managed to find alternative employment, but it was no mean feat. Immediate past president Michael Norton says the
recession altered the dynamic of the group. ‘It really changed the mood on the committee; some were without work, the rest were worried about their jobs. The emphasis moved from being very enthusiastic, optimistic and energetic to a more sombre, downbeat mood, and that did take the wind out of their sails.’ Norton believes, understandably, that it caused the
committee to lose its impetus, with extra committee tasks no longer such a priority. ‘In a recession the first people often to be hit are
the younger, more junior staff – and they’re the ones who find it harder to find new work. I don’t think the industry is pulling its weight to support young people and graduates in the recession, which will ultimately lead to those people leaving the industry. And, when things do pick up again, there will be a generation gap as well as a shortage of engineers and junior engineers.’ The knock-on effect that these redundancies could
have on universities is something else that bothers Norton, who fears they will see a decline in numbers if there are no jobs available at the end of a course. One of the reasons the building services sector
appealed to Alex MacGregor, project consultant at IES, was because of the number of young people being hired and the opportunities the industry presented. Of course, the recession is likely to have damaged that
perception of the sector. And – although MacGregor has been one of the lucky ones – his role has actually
>
The emphasis
moved from being very energetic to a more sombre, downbeat mood –
Michael Norton
www.cibsejournal.com
May 2010 CIBSE Journal
43
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