Efforts must be made to solve the skills shortage problem

Electronics is just one of the sectors that needs many more people than are 'signing up' today. Manufacturing in general needs more people if the UK's economy is to be more reliant on what we make, rather than what we earn by moving cash around. A sense of scale is given in EngineeringUK's latest report. It says the UK currently produces 46,000 engineering graduates each year, even though there is demand for 69,000. We only qualify 27,000 apprentices at level 3 each year, but it says there is demand for three times that number. How do we solve these problems? EngineeringUK says Government needs to work in partnership with the engineering industry, professional bodies and the voluntary sector. The Government, meanwhile, says it is 'doing all it can' to support engineering at all levels. These are statements we've all heard before. Young people are interested in engineering, as evidenced by the large numbers attending the recent UK Skills Show. So how do we build on that interest? The UK Electronics Skills Foundation is making some headway, although it admits it's not trying to 'boil the ocean'. One of the more pressing issues is getting a higher profile for engineering related subjects in an already crammed school curriculum. But the biggest problem of all is the one which nobody can solve – time. Skills issues are generational in their nature; there is no magic button that can be pushed to suddenly produce the graduates and apprentices required. That's not to say nothing can be done. But the last few years have, to a large extent, been all talk and reports. Creating more engineers and growing manufacturing's contribution to GDP requires action and investment. The establishment of the Professional Engineering Forum is welcome, but there's a long way left to go.