One problem highlighted by the Association of Graduate Recruiters is that the starting salaries for engineers who go in to traditional engineering roles are considerably less than, for example, investment banking.
The UK is also not educating enough engineers in high growth areas such as low carbon applications, advanced manufacturing, biosciences and digital technologies.
Sir James Dyson has frequently bemoaned the lack of engineers in the country and says it will only get worse, “there are 37,000 vacancies this year, and that will soon go up to 200,000.” Dyson in his 2010 report ‘Ingenious Britain’ predicts that companies will have to relocate factories if this void of engineers continues to grow and calls on the government to provide grants to lure more prospective engineering students. Dyson also notes that a big problem is that 80% of all engineering post-graduates studying in the UK are from outside the EU and they take their skills away with them when they leave the country. David Cameron called on Dyson to reawaken Britain’s innate inventiveness; the aim was for Britain to become Europe’s leading generator of new technology. “Forgive the mechanical analogy, we have the right components: the chassis, an engine and all four wheels. We just need fuel, perhaps a bit of tuning, and most of all a sense of direction.”
Cameron visited the Jaguar Land Rover global headquarters in July and announced a £25 million fund to create apprenticeship places that will help offer opportunities for next generation of engineers. He said “Jaguar Land Rover is a
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brilliant example of a business that is investing in skills for the future. It is time to re-industrialise the UK so that means more hi-tech jobs - that’s what’s happening here at Jaguar Land Rover.”
Obama recently met with Mark Zuckerberg and spoke of how he was inspired by Silicon Valley but disheartened that the same message always rang out – how the US tech community are struggling to find enough engineers or computer programmers. “That means our education system’s not working the way it should. And that’s got to start early. And that’s why we’re emphasizing math and science.” Obama hopes that training a generation of engineers will be one of his greatest legacies to America.
It is clear that governments are aware that if they invest in engineers they are investing in future
economic growth. Governments, not just venture capitalists, need to financially support high tech entrepreneurs and education for more engineers.
THE AUTHOR
Harriet Murdoch is a journalist for EngineeringBecause, a news, networking and jobs site for engineering students and graduates around the world. EngineeringBecause is free to join and members can message each other, publish their own stories, research universities and employers and apply for jobs.
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