Gear Up Autumn 2017 PPMA Members Magazine Issue 3

Making
engineering
child’s play
business intelligence
The recruitment crisis facing
the UK’s engineering and
manufacturing sectors has
been well-documented. An
ageing workforce, combined
with a perception of STEM
careers as outdated and
unfashionable, has left the
industry with a significant
employee shortfall. But there
is evidence that the tide is
now changing: apprenticeship
numbers and university
applications are up, buoyed
by strong starting salaries,
job security and the lack of
a gender pay gap prevalent
in many other sectors. For
tomorrow’s engineers, the
future is looking very bright...
“As the UK charts a course for itself outside the EU, a thriving
engineering sector is critical to our future prosperity. To achieve
this, we need to boost the numbers of home-grown engineers.
Unless we take action now, we will be faced with a severe
shortage of engineering talent which will act as a major drag on
future economic growth.”
David Landsman, Director, Tata Ltd
Value of STEM
to the UK
26
Percentage that engineering
contributes to the UK’s GDP
5.7m
Number of employees working in
engineering in the UK – 19% of total UK
employment
£33,689
The 2015 mean salary for those in
full-time STEM employment
Plugging the gap
20,000
Annual shortfall of engineering
graduates
108,000
The number of engineering
apprenticeship starts (England) in
2014/15, the highest for ten years
4/5
Four out of five manufacturing
employers are planning to recruit
apprentices in the next year
All stats: Engineering UK 2017: The state of engineering
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