Demand for engineering contractors grows as orders rise

London - Demand for engineering contractors, particularly white collar designers and project managers, is strengthening as the latest Government figures show new engineering orders are up 4.1% in the three months to April 2008 compared to the same period last year, according to contractor services provider giant group plc.

The group cites figures just published by National Statistics showing that the value of new engineering orders were £7.6 billion in the three months to April 2008, compared to £7.3 billion in the same period last year. The value of export orders was 17.7% higher, rising from £2.8 billion to £3.3 billion.

Growth in the value of engineering orders is likely to feed through to increased demand for engineering skills over the coming months. And, according to recent survey by giant, 63% of engineering contractors are expecting their pay to rise over the next year, said a giant group press statement.

“Fears that the economic slowdown would sap demand in the engineering sector have only partly materialised. While there has been a modest slackening of demand domestically, the UK engineering sector is proving extremely competitive at winning orders overseas," said Matthew Brown, managing director, giant group.

"The emerging economies in Asia and the Middle East are developing rapidly and this is feeding through to strong demand in the UK engineering sector. The depreciation of the pound relative to the Euro is also boosting demand in the Eurozone,” Brown added.

Rising demand for engineering skills is unlikely to be absorbed by any slack in the job market and could lead to higher pay demands, added Brown.“Engineering contractors are confident of pay increases over the next 12 months. The UK is still suffering from a long-term underproduction of engineering skills, so employers will need to compete fiercely for the skills they need, which could push pay levels up.”