JLR joins UKESF in bid to retain UK’s young engineering talent
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Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has pledged its support to the UK Electronic Skills Foundation (UKESF), which seeks to reverse the UK's significant decline in electronic engineering graduates by raising the industry's profile among young people.
The automotive giant is supporting UKESF's Summer Schools programme and its professional development initiatives for undergraduates on the UKESF scholarship scheme.
Dr Alex Mouzakitis, technical specialist and manager at JLR said: "We have an R&D workforce that's exclusively based in the UK, so we fundamentally need to have a strong talent pool here to recruit from. We were persuaded by the UKESF's mission and methods; and its work has the potential to help us actively engage with some of the brightest young minds to raise the profile of automotive engineering as an interesting and rewarding career option."
The UK's electronic engineering and automotive manufacturing sectors are jointly worth over £50billion to the economy and employ approximately 400,000 skilled workers. JLR employs more than 1,000 electrical and electronic engineers for R&D in the UK.
However, the 47% drop (2002-2008) in the number of UK students undertaking electronic engineering degree courses at British universities could threaten a sustainable supply of graduates to meet the demands of both the £23billion a year UK electronics industry and the key sectors requiring these skills.
Lynn Tomkins, the UK operations director for Semta, a UKESF founding member, said: "JLR has an exceptional track record for responsible employment. It has, for a long time, been actively engaged in developing talent to create a skilled workforce and recently increased its annual graduate intake from 135 to 340, so we're delighted to have its backing."
