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Engineering in graduate shortfall warns expert
Saturday 18th February 2012, 6:35PM GMT.
More engineering graduates are needed to fill a shortfall in the Black Country’s manufacturing industry, according to the incoming president of the region’s Chamber of Commerce.
Cradley Heath-based solicitor Paul Bennett, who will take up the post in April, says firms are struggling to replace skilled workers who are retiring.
He believes more training courses should be made available to teach students these vital skills and believes the creation of University Technical Colleges could be the way forward.
“Talking to our members, they are keen to recruit and invest,” said Mr Bennett.
“The challenge is to try to attract people, particularly the significant number of young people that are unemployed, into manufacturing and engineering.
“The biggest challenge I think for this area is to ensure that we do not skip a generation or a number of generations in terms of their opportunities to work.”
Mr Bennett, who is a senior partner at George Green Solicitors and is Dudley chamber president, has been out to visit colleges in the area to see the work they are doing with students.
But he fears many are choosing to study outside the region. He said: “My concern is when you look at the destination of many of the students you wonder how many are coming back to the Black Country after their studies to find work.”
He said the chamber is backing plans by Dudley College to create a University Technical College.
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Funny how he’s inferring the claimed lack of skills is because people don’t have them..what about the people who have the skills and aren’t wanted, Mr. Bennett? What about the middle and upper management who won’t pay a decent wage for a decent day’s work? If there’s such a shortage – how come the doll office is bereft of IT and engineering positions? People don’t come back here for the simple reason they’ve had enough of this region, with it’s low pay, long hours culture.
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Spot on!
I was an engineer, I took up IT at 40 and John is right… IT jobs are scarcer than rocking horse manure in Wolverhampton and as for engineering…least said soonest mended! Bring on Jaguar/Landrover, we need more like them badly around here!
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Why is it every single time manufacturing and future technologies are mentioned, the blame on this regions re-generation is aimed at ‘unemployed people’, as though they’re lazy and unwilling? This region has been decimated through lack of proper funding, investment and support. The best and the brightest don’t want to stay here because basically this government doesn’t want people climbing out the gutter. When that happens, this government’s economic GRIP on this entire region ceases to exist. You tell me Mr. Bennett, why IT graduates can’t find work in the Black Country that pays above the neck. Now you tell me why THEY are being treated like dirt and taking the blame for it.
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Here we go again, the supposed manufacturing skill shortage. Does Mr. Bennett have a problem recruiting legal and finance professionals for his business? No. Why not? Because they are better paid than engineers and manufacturing craftsmen. I saw a job in Tipton Jobcentre last month – fully skilled welder/fabricator, able to read drawings, prepare materials list, mark out, cut, assemble and weld high quality fabrications. How much were they offering for this multi-skilled craftsman? £8 / hour, this is the typical rate for small firms in the Black Country. Then I picked up a leaflet in ALDI advertising vacancies for store assistants, starting rate £8.20 / hour rising to £9.70. A generation of young people in the Black Country have seen parents and grandparents who have spent a lifetime working in manufacturing thrown onto the scrapheap. Why follow them when you can earn more in retail, finance or the law.
Regarding comments about training courses, 30 years ago this area had an enormous choice of courses in engineering and manufacturing. West Bromwich college was a world leader (yes WORLD leader) in metallurgy, foundry technology and non-destructive testing. The colleges stopped offering these courses because the demand from employers dried up. While I support the aim of increasing training in this area it won’t thrive unless employers take on apprentices and pay for their training, and then offer a reasonably paid permanent position to the skilled employee.
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it’s not only training courses thats needed it’s the jobs after
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