The engineering industry employs around 5 million people in the UK. Nevertheless, engineering is a discipline which needs more people working in it, and not just in industry.The UK also needs more engineers in research. Engineering is a huge field of both study and work, covering everything from food engineering to acoustics and robotics. This means that there are a mass of opportunities out there across loads of different sectors.Engineers in researchBeing an engineer doesn’t have to mean studying engineering and immediately getting a job in industry though (although the UK does need approximately 182,000 people a year to be attracted into engineering careers between now and 2022 if we are to fill the skills gap). The UK also needs engineers to go into research.There are two reasons for needing at least of those brilliant future engineers to go on to do research. One is that it is through pioneering research, particularly at the moment in the fields of 3D printing technology and nuclear engineering that the UK can lead in the field of engineering.Check out this amazing video clip of a robot building a bridge in the Netherlands.The other reason for needing engineers in research is that we will continue to need experts to teach the engineers of the future. Lecturers and professors in engineering will retire for example and we will need people to take over the teaching roles.Employers don’t just want you to have the knowledgeNeil Downie:
Most of us in industry want people who have practical abilities, a ‘feel for stuff’, as well as academic knowledge. I interview lots of students who are great on theory, but lack those vital practical aspects.”
Girls - get engineering #notjustforboysYou’ve seen the numbers – the UK needs to attract about 182,000 people into engineering per year. This means that quite literally, we will need females in engineering. In the UK, only 9% of the engineering workforce is female and we have the lowest percentage of female engineers in the whole of Europe.There’s another very good reason for getting into engineering if you are a girl, and for employing a girl, if you’re an employer. This is diversity – females approach things differently to males, they have a different perspective, they may think of or notice things that a male worker will not. So, if you have a mix of males and females on your team, you’re more likely to get better work done.So, come on, engineers of the future – get researching and engineer yourself a great future career. You can find engineering vacancies on our search page and you can read more about engineering careers as well as work experience as a CAD engineer here.
