Engineering lobby must make UK attractive

1-Oct-2008

We welcome the inclusion of some engineering fields onto the Migration Advisory Committee’s new list of ‘shortage professions’, which makes it easier for employers to recruit non-EU workers (Recruiter, 17 September, p7).



However, the proposal doesn’t go far enough. In the absence of a home-grown solution, primarily caused by a plateau in the numbers studying technical subjects in the EU, several other fields in engineering have long suffered significant skills gaps and should be granted the same privileges.



Even if the UK’s engineering lobby succeeds in its objectives soon, it should not rest on its laurels. We recently surveyed 1,695 engineers from around the world about their experiences of working overseas. The UK scored a significantly lower rating for quality of life than many other countries which are also in competition to attract skilled engineers.



British employers and the government need to think about other measures to make the UK an attractive destination at a time when several huge projects are in the pipeline. With the current skills shortages, we’ll have no choice but to look outside the EU for help to complete them.



• Tobias Reed, chief executive, EPCglobal