News

Support needed to help SMEs tackle growing engineering “experience gap”

Support to help small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) to provide career paths for apprentices and technicians is crucial to ensure skills are available across the infrastructure supply chain,  Crossrail technical director Chris Sexton warned this week.

EngTechNow - The Experience Gap

Speaking at the launch of EngTechNow’s new report on the growing “experience gap” that threatens the UK engineering professions future and with it the nations’ growth potential, Sexton warned that helping smaller companies to invest was a key issue to tackle.

"People are worried both in the tier one contractors but also the SMEs about whether they have the skills base to fulfil the contracts that they have." Chris Sexton, Crossrail

“At Crossrail we have the benefit of looking across a very wide supply chain and people are worried both in the tier one contractors but also the SMEs about whether they have the skills base to fulfil the contracts that they have and for the one that they might get in the future,” said Sexton. 

“This is not helped in the construction industry by the fact that in many cases the major contractors subcontract many of the work packages so they are detached from the workforce that is carrying out their work,” he added. 

“The approach to the skills gap up until now has largely been to hope for the best and in my view that will no longer do. Companies have to invest in their engineering teams and this means apprentice programmes and early professional recognition as engineering technicians."

Blane Judd, chief executive of EngTechNow agreed that, particularly in construction, the fragmented nature of the supply chain made it hard for smaller firms to embrace investment in training.

“There is a very interesting challenge with regard to SMEs,” he said. “But by providing support to the major contractors to help them to develop competencies within their own organisations we can move to a position where we are also supporting their supply chains.” 

He added: “This is about creating a sustainable model and using a cascade process through greater collaboration to achieve a better outcome for all.”

Hosting the EngTechNow report launch at the House of Commons, Barry Sheerman MP also pointed out that providing support for smaller firms was crucial as they were major employers of young people across the UK.  

“Most kids leaving school today will work for an SME, not the big companies. So we have got to be so good at supporting them,” he said. “We desperately need more highly trained technicians."

“It is all well and good having apprentice programmes but if they don’t emerge into quality programme and continue their profession development and stay in the sector then we have lost that opportunity.” Blane Judd, EngTechNow

The new EngTechNow report “The Experience Gap - the unspoken skills gap” published yesterday (Tuesday 10 March) points to the need for more career paths to be created enabling non-graduates to enter the industry and still achieve chartered professional status.

Failure to invest in career development for technicians across the engineering profession, it says, has caused an “experience gap” which is set to hinder the UK’s future economic growth prospects. Without immediate action to tackle this problem, it adds, the gap will widen as the post-recession demand for experienced engineers outstrips supply.

“Unless something is done about the experience gap now, it has the potential to get far worse,” warns the report. “An inability to compete internationally could cause the engineering sector to decline, which would deter even more people from entering it in the first place.”

“We have a challenge attracting young people into the industry and if we are to succeed we have to offer them a career path,” said Sexton highlighting that Crossrail had already provided 426 apprenticeships on the project and was looking to extend the challenge to embrace higher numbers.

Speaking at the report launch Judd highlighted the significant shortfall of engineering technicians in the UK, and failure to address this gap will have major consequences for the nation’s international competitiveness.

“We face a technician shortage of 450,000 by 2020,” he said. “It is all well and good having apprentice programmes but if they don’t emerge into quality programme and continue their profession development and stay in the sector then we have lost that opportunity.”

He added: “Every time we have a downturn those people walk away and are afraid to come back. We need to show that we trust those people and that we can invest in these people 

(See viewpoint by Blane Judd, chief executive EngTechNow)

The report highlights a new five point plan to turn around the situation covering:

  1.     Client bodies need to manage supply chain skills risks
  2.     Aim for greater collaboration across industry
  3.     Emphasis must be put on the quality of apprenticeships, not just quantity
  4.     Aim for greater professionalisation of engineering roles
  5.     There should be direct collaboration between major projects and schools/colleges

The consequences of inaction, says the report, are wide-ranging and serious, severely affecting UK businesses’ ability to grow and prompting firms to turn down lucrative projects as they simply will not have the manpower to deliver.

So far 13 industry representatives have signed a charter committing to take action - two infrastructure projects, nine engineering employers, and two trade unions. Each has committed to practical steps to ensure their technicians and apprentices are supported to achieve professional status. 

Signatories include: Amey, Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Crossrail, Doosan Babcock, E.ON, Jaguar Land Rover, NG Bailey, Prospect, QinetiQ, Royal Mail, Thames Tideway, and TSSA.

If you would like to contact Antony Oliver about this, or any other story, please email antony.oliver@infrastructure-intelligence.com.