EIT Study Shows Demand for UK Engineers High

The ninth 'Engineering and Technology: Skills and Demand in Industry' report from the Institution of Engineering and Technology(IET), based on telephone interviews with 400 employers of engineering and IT staff in the UK, indicated  demand for more engineers.

Main findings from the report

• The 2014 study shows that the demand for engineers remains high,with more than half of companies looking to recruit engineers and more reporting difficulties in finding the people they need.This year 59%of companies indicated concerns that a shortage of engineers would be a threat to their business in the UK.
• 23% of organisations said that they do nothing at all to improve work force diversity and a further 20% stated that they hire the best candidate.
• There appears to be a growing inconsistency between the skills employers expect school leavers to possess and what the curriculum delivers. 30% of employers felt that school leavers do not have enough practical experience and 25% believe that they do not have sufficient technical expertise.
• Since 2013 the number of Level 2 Intermediate apprenticeships offered by employers has more than doubled, but the number of Level 4 Higher apprenticeships has remained static.

Current recruitment:
The level of recruitment of engineering staff has remained consistent for the last three years, with 51% of organisations recruiting engineers in 2014. Recruitment of IT staff has fallen from 16% in 2013 to 13%.

The sectors that are recruiting most actively this year are Defence, Computing & IT, and Electronics. Difficulties in recruiting experienced staff, particularly senior engineers, has increased by 8% on last year, with increases also seen for the recruitment of engineering technicians and apprentices.

For the IT sector, the biggest concern was recruiting IT apprentices, an 8% increase since 2013. However, employers have reported that they are finding it increasingly easy to recruit IT managers this year.

Recruitment plans over the next 12 months:
41% of organisations are planning to recruit engineering, IT or technical staff in the next 12 months, up 5% from 2013.

The highest proportion of engineering, IT and technical recruitment is expected to be in the Defence, Broadcast & Media and Electronics sectors.

The demand for experienced staff continues to increase rather than postgraduates (10%), graduates (18%) or school leavers (11%).

Business expansion in the UK remains the top reason for recruitment and accounts for 80% of planned recruitment.

Source: Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) – www.theiet.org