While four out of five professional engineers surveyed stating they were prepared to leave the UK to work overseas for better pay, a better standard of living and the work experience, and nearly one-third of high technology manufacturing firms admitting to having to recruit workers from overseas, things aren't looking too great in the engineering sector these days.
And that's a shame, because engineering helped to make Great Britain ... well, great. Think SS Great Britain ... the Great Western Railway (the original, not today's version) ... Box Tunnel ... the Clifton Suspension Bridge - and that's all the work of just one man. There were many more men, and many more outstanding examples of Great British Engineering, as well.
However, things may just be changing: alterations to the Specification of Apprentices Standards for England (SASE) mean that Level Six and Level Seven apprenticeships in advanced engineering will become available - the equivalent to bachelors and masters degree levels.
Skills body Semta (the sector skills council for science, engineering and manufacturing) says that these plans for graduate and post-graduate level apprenticeships should help slow down the brain drain - or at least reduce the proportion of professional engineers contemplating leaving the UK.
Sarah Sillars, Semta's Chief Executive, says there is an "urgent" need to make sure young people and their parents, as well as schools and universities understand how important engineering is and the career prospects it offers.
"It is vital", she says, "to the future of our economy to have a skilled workforce capable of competing in a global marketplace.
“That is why Semta developed higher level apprenticeships for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering. The frameworks not only upskill the existing workforce, but also develop new recruits and, because they are designed with employers, they will encourage more companies to recruit apprentices.”
