Engineering skills shortage: What you need to know

Unemployment is at 4%, which is exacerbating the skills gap within the engineering industry.

What are the causes of this crisis?

Some believe that the issue is educational. The Telegraph note that STEM subjects are not a focus throughout a child’s early education, leading to crucial talent being lost due to disinterest and not appearing to be a viable career.

Director Magazine discuss several different reasons, notably that British firms are not competitive vs European employers, which could be also be impacted by a bad Brexit deal (i.e. talent leaving the UK).

Engineering UK states that there are several reasons for the skills gap, from lack of women joining the talent pool, to less emphasis on STEM in education.

One observation is worrying considering the potential economic uncertainty to befall the country next year, and that is the lack of home grown talent entering the profession.

Time will tell the impact this may have…