IET bemoans lack of "suitably skilled" engineers
11 Aug 2011
London, – Almost half of organisations in the IT and engineering sectors are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit suitably skilled engineers in senior roles, while a third of respondents reported that new engineers, IT and technical recruits did not meet reasonable expectations for the level of skill required, the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s 2011 skills survey.
According to the IET, 48% respondents are continuing to experience difficulties to find suitable senior engineers to fill vacancies, while 34% are struggling to recruit IT managers.
Alongside these findings, the survey revealed that 31% of respondents found that new recruits in engineering and IT did not meet the required level of skill. 18% of organisations also reported a lack of confidence in finding suitably qualified engineering, IT and technical staff in four to five years time.
The IET urged engineers to acquire the appropriate registration to professionally recognise their skills and experience, in order to demonstrate their knowledge, competency and commitment to the profession, as well appear more favourably in recruitment processes.
The survey also reveals that many organisations planned to recruit further engineering, IT and technical staff over the next 12 months, with 49% of roles to be filled by experienced staff rather than postgraduates, graduates or school leavers. The IET concluded that such results reaffirm the importance of acquiring professional registrations to give people the much needed differentiator when looking for a new role.
Senior engineers and newly qualified engineers can improve career opportunities by acquiring professional registrations to demonstrate the expertise and experience gained at each level of their career, said the IET.
Professional Registrations currently available include; ICT Technician (ICTTech), Engineering Technician (EngTech), Incorporated Engineer (IEng) and the more commonly known Chartered Engineer (CEng).
Explaining his reasons for undergoing the professional registration process, Craig Owens, a quality surveillance engineer, at Parsons Brinckerhoff said: “I wanted to gain recognition for all the hard work that I had put into my career whilst servicing in the Royal Navy and these professional qualifications have improved my career development and progression. Clients are reassured that I have the necessary skills and expertise to do my job and my current employer even uses it as a selling point to clients when requesting my services.”
Owens first acquired the EngTech category in 2005, followed by the IEng in 2009 and is currently working towards becoming a CEng.
Paul Davies at the IET, comments “The 2011 skills survey has indicated a real need for suitably qualified and skilled professionals at different levels and also reveals just how engineers or technicians currently seeking employment, or looking move to the next stage of their career, can differentiate themselves from the crowd.”
The 2011 Skills Survey also indicated a concerted effort from the industry to address the continuing skills shortage with 30% of respondents concluding that the profile and image of engineering needed to improve and 21 per cent citing the need to make it cheaper for organisations to offer training. Many organisations contribute to efforts to promote engineering to young people with 60 per cent of respondents taking on interns for work experience in the past 12 months.
