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TRAINING & SKILLS
INSPIRING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENGINEERS
Here are a few tips from Oasys to show how your business can inspire students and professionals to
become the engineers of tomorrow
t’s no secret that the engineering sector is experiencing a shortage of workers. In fact, research shows that the industry will need to train and employ around 200,000 people by 2024 to fill the gap.
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To help overcome this challenge, your business can focus on encouraging young people into engineering, whether they’re secondary-school leavers or graduates seeking roles within the industry. In order to do this, your business should consider partnering with educational institutions to inspire people before they enter higher education. One way you can do this is by offering career events in secondary schools. These events enlighten young people about the inner workings of the industry. As well as this, you can make graduate programmes available to those leaving university. Multiple institutions are willing to partner with reputable businesses, such as how Teesside University and ITS Ltd, a specialist automation systems developer, came together in an effort to tackle industry staff shortages in the North East of England. Your business can also offer engineering apprenticeships for school leavers. These can train people interested in an engineering career even if they don’t want to attend university. Student benefits include being able to work alongside professionals within the engineering industry, to prioritising 20% of their time to training and studying.
Engineering apprenticeships, and other industry placements, are also available to seasoned workers as long as they’re over the age of 16. This approach could be critical to rebuilding the workforce, especially when 71% of engineering employers who are experiencing difficulties filling employment positions claim the issue lies with a lack of engineering or technical skills in the talent pool. As well as this, your business can offer graduate programmes. These are a great way to connect with emerging talent in the industry, especially while the sector is experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. Graduate programmes are beneficial for both employers and employees. It is an attractive route for people wanting to break
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into the engineering industry, with research showing that the average salary for graduate engineering programmes is £28,000 in the UK. They are also a great way for businesses to employ and nurture new talent while they can. Your business can also help to solve the shortage of skilled workers by focusing on training and retaining professionals. It’s not uncommon for people to take a break from their careers. This might be to upskill in other areas or to prioritise personal issues such as caring for family members. While common, it may be difficult for people to return to the workplace after this break. Research shows that 40% of women who choose to take a prolonged break from their career in STEM to care for their children feel there are barriers to returning to their careers. To tackle this and encourage people to return to their STEM jobs, businesses can offer back-to-work schemes. These are common practices around the nation, as companies run 12-week paid return schemes or training schemes to potential workers.
It’s no secret that multiple businesses across the nation are struggling to retain their staff. The engineering sector is also experiencing this hardship, with research discovering that 32% of engineering workers left companies due to their employer’s company culture. The logical solution, therefore, would be to improve company culture wherever possible. Your organisation can boost company culture in a number of ways. This can come in the form of employee recognition, social events, hybrid working schemes, or employee rewards. The trick is to have fun while doing it! Career progression is an attractive selling point in any career. No one wants to feel like they are stuck in the same position or same level for too long. In fact, according to research, 86% of workers within engineering, as well as architecture and building industries,
are eager to learn new work skills. And 28% believe career progression is one of the most important goals of their professional careers. To ensure your employees feel fulfilled in their role, your business can create career progression plans. This can be something like offering educational courses that will continue to challenge their knowledge and work as a method of upskilling.
While it may take time and resources, there is hope that the industry will be able to fill the skills shortage in time. It will help if businesses do their part and encourage school leavers and current employees to become engineers. Sources:
https://www.crooton.com/2022/02/22/what-is- the-future-of-recruitment-in-the-engineering- sector/
https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/02/11/wo men-in-stem-week-2021-how-were- empowering-the-next-generation/
https://www.mazakeu.co.uk/inspiring-the-next- generation/
https://www.tees.ac.uk/schools/scedt/news_sto ry.cfm?story_id=7914
https://www.gov.uk/employing-an-apprentice https://pwemag.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/4 928/Engineering_skills_crisis_prompts_calls_for
_urgent_government_action.html
https://uk.talent.com/salary?job=Engineering+G raduate+Programme
https://employernews.co.uk/news/recruitment- bias-preventing-talented-engineers-from-ret urning-to-work-after-a-career-break/ https://engineering-
jobs.theiet.org/article/returning-to-your-engine ering-career
https://www.fenews.co.uk/employability/the- engineering-sector-has-trouble-retaining-staf f-heres-why-your-workers-need-regular- training-and-motivation/
Oasys
www.oasys-software.com
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