ENGINEERING_4

In the past year, demand in the sector has significantly declined in some subsectors, risen in others and fluctuated in some areas.
And all the while, skill gaps remain

Confidence in the engineering sector waned towards the end of 2008, with several subsectors affected by widespread economic trends.

Monster’s Employment Index, which monitors online job advertising, recorded a second straight month of decline in December, with the index dropping eight points. However, the number of advertised positions increased by eight points year-on-year, compared with a 33-point UK industry-wide decline.

Colin Woolford, resourcing manager at Beechwood Engineering, told Recruiter demand fluctuated towards the end of 2008.

“In mid-September it was like the taps were turned off; a lot of companies stopped recruiting overnight. However, it is starting to re-emerge. In fact, January has been more busy than Novemberor December.”

Sector trade body the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) found that 90% of civil engineering companies and 78% in the energy sector were expecting to recruit in August 2008.

Recruiters are targeting these sectors, as long-term funding for such projects guarantees sustained demand for personnel, even through a downturn.

Tom Greenhaugh, senior consultant at technical recruiter Andersen Banks, told Recruiter that infrastructure is still “booming”, adding the
company’s work on highway projects was guaranteed for the next six to eight years.

According to recruiters, several sectors have seen significant drops in demand. In August, only 55% of manufacturing and processing
companies were expecting to recruit, and the sector has faced a 7.4% decline in output during November — its worst performance since June 1981, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Recruiters are taking advantage of the ebb and flow of demand for engineers by moving candidates between industries. Woolford told
Recruiter: “Traditionally there has been some osmosis between the automotive, aerospace and the rail industry. In design, development and test they work to similar standards.”

John Robinson, managing director of technical recruiter Scantec, said the company had repositioned a number of consultants from the hard hit sectors of architecture and building services to focus on oil and gas and international business.

However, demand in the areas which are still performing well may not be enough to buoy recruitment. Andrew Lee, editor of specialist publication The Engineer, warned: “The demand in the growing bits of the engineering sector is not going to soak up the extra
candidates.”

Reed.co.uk’s salary index, which tracks online advertising, found salaries remained level during 2008, with the average salary for an engineer in England increasing marginally, from £35k to £36k, between January 2007 and 2008.

Robinson predicted the trend would continue during 2008. “We haven’t seen any increase in salaries [over the past year]. We have been talking to our contractors in the field and nobody is really expecting any great increases over the next six to 12 months.”

Regardless of cross-sector movement, skill gaps remain. The IET found that 33% of companies are experiencing problems recruiting graduate engineers and 49% senior engineers.

Harry Stancliffe, head of sales at job board the Career Engineer, told Recruiter the industry is experiencing “increasingly big skills gaps”.

“The downturn is a really big opportunity for the government to look at skills shortages and a lot of companies are looking to attract lower level engineers with a view to making sure those vacancies are filled in the future,” he explained.


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