The 2024 Water Industry Labour Report highlighted several major talent issues facing a market that has already received significant scrutiny in recent years. However, over the past 12 months – and as we move into AMP8 – these problems have seemingly only intensified, with ongoing shortages threatening to impact water engineer recruitment for the biggest asset management period of all time. Consequently, we’re looking to review the state of the market once again and gauge the views and opinions of the specialists who keep the industry running for our 2025 analysis.

Despite the negativity surrounding UK water in the media, AMP8 does represent a major opportunity to turn the fortunes of the sector around and set a brighter, and more optimistic future in place. A staggering £104 billion worth of investment is lined up with several major projects planned and waiting to be resourced, but the availability of skills will ultimately be the key factor in whether they are successfully delivered or not. Headlines around sewage, pollution, funding and rising household bills all tend to take the spotlight, but the critical, foundational issue that has the largest impact on productivity, is people. But what did our previous study find, and how can specialists take part in this year’s report?

Water engineer recruitment - 2024 key findings

Both the Labour Report – and our interim study launched earlier this year – identified some troubling insights and highlighted an already stretched market facing significant challenges. Potentially the most noteworthy finding was that ‘skills and recruitment’ was listed as the single biggest problem facing employers and engineers, despite the range of aforementioned issues they had to choose from.

Perhaps even more alarming was that over seven in ten of the over 4,000 engineers that we surveyed said they were considering roles in other industries, with oil & gas and nuclear the main focus of their attention. While other markets have historically sought the skills and expertise of water engineers due to their flexible and specialised attributes, the continuing exodus of professionals from an already skill-short environment threatens to undermine the resilience of the entire workforce. On top of this is a rapidly approaching retirement cliff, with one-fifth of the workforce set to retire in the next five years. Combined, these findings painted a worrying picture for water employers across the UK.

However, there are solutions at hand. As we’ve analysed over the past 12 months, there are several actions that employers can take to better manage the available resources at their disposal. One key factor will be leveraging the contingent workforce far more effectively to plug gaps in the permanent workforce, and ultimately ensure projects are delivered.

Contingent solutions

The world of employment has shifted dramatically over the past decade, particularly post-pandemic, with a far greater focus on contract roles than in the past. In fact, the majority of engineers reading this will likely be solely seeking contingent opportunities that enable them to broaden their skills, and benefit from a range of more diverse experiences with different employers, over a permanent position.

But few employers have factored in this shift into their hiring activity, and have not moved their focus from permanent recruitment - and the white elephant issue of retention. Many of the major firms that we partner with have ‘contingent’ workers who have a longer length of tenure than their supposedly ‘permanent’ engineers. By placing an overly heavy focus on sourcing and retaining perm specialists, organisations are only making themselves less agile, and reducing their ability to adapt to the peaks and troughs that are inherent to the nature of the water industry. If more firms took this approach and focused their resources on sourcing contract specialists, there would likely be far less strain on the talent market.

Equally, we also found that there are broader problems facing UK water that lay outside of the remit of even the largest employers. One issue facing organisations is the current IR35 determination process, which incorrectly categorises too many engineering roles as falling inside of the existing regulations. This goes far beyond just the water sector, but rectifying this issue could free up the skills of thousands of professionals, and ultimately save the sector millions of pounds every single year. As a result, we are particularly interested in gauging engineers’ views on how their recent roles have been determined, and whether they believe the outcome has been correct.

The 2025 Water Industry Labour Report

These are just a fraction of some of the issues within the UK water industry that we’re looking to gain insights into from specialist engineers who are operating at the coalface and can see the reality of the situation first-hand. We’re looking for views and opinions on how the talent crisis could be solved, and what employers can do to attract and motivate the best professionals in the market. The completely anonymous, five-minute form will give respondents the chance to shape the conversation around the water engineering talent crisis. And, as a thank you, all those who enter the survey will receive both early access to the report when it’s launched in May, and be entered in a draw to win £100 Amazon voucher.

Click here to take part and give us your views and opinions on the water engineering crisis as we move into AMP8, and how it can be solved.

If you’re looking for your next specialist water engineering role, speak to our expert team.

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