Work experience for students essential say engineering employers

62% of engineering employers say graduates don’t have the right skills for today’s workplace, while 68% are concerned that the education system will struggle to keep up with the skills required for technological change, according to the 2016 Skills and Demand in Industry report, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) today.

To address these growing concerns over skills gaps in the engineering workforce, particularly among graduates and school leavers, 91% of companies agreed that to improve the supply of engineers and technicians, more employers need to provide work experience for those in education or training.

Based on interviews with over 400 UK engineering employers the report highlights deep concerns about the engineering skills gap, diversity issues, the role of education and a lack of experienced engineering staff all come under the spotlight.

It also echoes the results of The Engineer’s Brexit recruitment report (published last week), with 40 per cent of those surveyed by the IET believing that their recruitment will be negatively impacted over the next four to five years following this summer’s referendum vote.