Engineering firms are constantly on the lookout for the best and brightest skills in the market who can enable them to identify new technologies and innovations in their specific field. But what are the latest trends in engineering recruitment and what attributes are highly sought after at the moment?

Engineering Recruitment

Anyone with an awareness of the engineering recruitment market will know that the sector has suffered from the impact of skills shortages for some time now. This isn’t an engineering-specific issue; indeed, sectors including technology, manufacturing, water and more have struggled to secure the talent they need, but for STEM sectors the problem is particularly acute.

Recent data from the IET Skills Survey revealed that there is a shortfall of over 173,000 professionals across all STEM industries, which is costing the economy over £1.5bn per annum. For engineering specifically, 49% of employers have said they have experienced difficulties in sourcing available skills. Even those with an enviable reputation as a great employer have struggled to attract quality engineering talent.

The issue is likely only going to get worse, with almost one in five engineers currently working in the UK due to retire by 2026, meaning professionals are going to be in increasing demand and shorter supply. Liz Chapman, a civil engineer and head of design at the UK arm of global infrastructure firm Stantec said, “It is incredibly hard to recruit enough experienced people, […] I have never known it to be this tough to find engineering staff.” A separate study also showed that engineering jobs accounted for four of the top ten most hard-to-fill roles, highlighting further the difficulties that employers are facing.

Tackling this issue is proving problematic. While employers are putting a focus on developing skills and the industry as a whole has upped its efforts to boost awareness of STEM careers, this solution will only bear fruit in years to come. In the short term, engineering recruitment efforts are being impacted by the challenge of recruiting from overseas, so employers are looking to hire from other related industries as well as developing skills within their business.

The lack of available talent is also making retaining staff even more important, with professionals able to secure better pay and other more flexible benefits from their employers who are desperate for them to stay.

Skills demand

The single largest driving factor behind skills demand in engineering recruitment is the global push to reduce carbon emissions, with countries around the world launching projects designed to reduce reliance on fossil fuel-powered technologies.

We outlined some of the largest initiatives currently underway in a recent blog which focused on the likes of the £8.25bn Dogger Bank Wind Farm and Tees Biomass station, however there is demand for all types of engineers across a range of industries and different markets.

In IT, for example, a government study revealed that half of all UK businesses have a cyber security skills gap. As a relatively new – but rapidly growing – discipline, there is also a major shortage of professionals with expert understanding of AI and machine learning which many businesses are now incorporating into their future plans.

Engineers, across all specialisms, help to shape and change the world around us and here at Engineering by Murray we are the engineering recruitment agency of choice for firms seeking mechanical, manufacturing, electrical, control, automation and embedded software engineers. We are dedicated to sourcing and engaging with the best engineers in the industry to meet the unique needs of our clients, and to find the best roles for the professionals that we work with.

We take the time to understand the needs of our clients and candidates. If you’re looking for your next engineering role, or are seeking a recruitment company to support with your engineering recruitment, then get in touch with our expert team.

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