Memorandum 56
Submission from Herefordshire and Worcestershire
Chamber of Commerce
ENGINEERS AND ENGINEERING IN THE UK TODAY
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The UK has a long engineering history
but today, engineering achievements are not celebrated as they
were for example, in Victorian times. The changing structure of
the economy with fewer people employed in manufacturing in general
and the contraction or loss of some of our traditional industries-often
based around heavy engineering-has led to a public feeling that
the future is in services and that engineering and manufacturing
are not exciting and are out dated. Together with other changes
in society this has led to a loss of status for the engineering
profession in relation to other occupational groups.
2. Changed attitudes have contributed to
a reduction in recruits to the profession and in turn, a reduction
in training places. There are shortages of both graduate and craft
trained entrants to the profession. Nevertheless engineering is
needed now as much as ever because its practical, problem solving
approach is at the heart of turning ideas into practical reality,
it is innovative and creative and able to turn the results of
research into practical products and services.
3. In the UK business must work closely
with schools to help young people and the adults that advise them
(parents and teachers) understand the true nature of engineering
and the wider manufacturing sector in the UK. We must show how
this has changed from the outdated stereotypes that are often
still believed and show the challenges that exist and the rewarding
careers that can be available.
4. Without a strong engineering sector,
the UK will not be able to compete effectively in the modern world.
INTRODUCTION
5. The Chamber of Commerce Herefordshire
and Worcestershire represents some 1,500 member businesses and
provides a wide and diverse range of business support services
to both member and non member businesses. The economy of the two
counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire is very diverse.
It includes a wide range of engineering businesses from small
and often very traditional metal turners and formers, through
to very advanced knowledge intensive manufacturers of high technology
products as well as agricultural engineers that have grown up
often out of the extensive land based industries in the area.
6. Many of the businesses in the north of
Worcestershire were particularly dependent on the automotive industry
although through diversification that dependence has become significantly
less. In Herefordshire there is a major manufacturer of aluminium
and non-ferrous alloys and engineering is important to many of
the areas other traditional industry such as carpet manufacture,
agriculture and food production.
CONSULTATION
7. This response draws on the opinions and
views of members expressed in many discussions on manufacturing,
innovation and training. In addition, a specific consultation
exercise was carried out with a sample of members when the Chamber
learned of the Select Committee's enquiry.
ENGINEERS AND
ENGINEERING IN
THE UK TODAY
8. Engineering has lost a lot of its status
in the UK today. In the past engineers and engineering were held
in high public esteem, indeed some of the Victorian engineers
are still quoted as good examples of their profession, often because
modern UK engineers are not celebrated in the way that their forebears
were.
9. The loss of status is in part at least
connected to a lack of general awareness of the true nature of
engineering which, like the broader manufacturing sector, has
suffered with a public image problem that sees it as outdated
and declining, dirty and lacking challenge. There are elements
of truth in some of these accusations, there has certainly been
a decline in overall numbers employed in engineering and manufacturing,
and some jobs can at times be dirty, however there has been some
huge progress made which is not recognised and modern engineering,
like modern manufacturing, is very different from the situation
half a century ago or earlier.
10. Changes in society and the economy have
played a part in this change in public attitude to engineers and
engineering. In the 19th century, many of the major engineering
projects such as railways and canals, bridges and steam engines
were viewed by large sections of the public in much the same way
that the first space missions and moon landing were seen in the
20th century. Now major civil engineering projects such as roads,
airports etc are additions to networks with which we are already
familiar and they are often surrounded by controversy over their
environmental impact.
11. As well as the changing values in society,
economic changes have fuelled a debate that has had an impact
on the way engineering is seen. Over a period of years we have
seen a number of traditional UK businesses, often with engineering
at their heart, close, shrink in size and importance or move overseas.
This has come about because of major changes in the world economy.
The emergence of new producers overseas able to compete because
of cheaper labour costs and also in some cases because they can
begin with what is now the latest technology rather than go through
the more evolutionary process of the long established producers.
12. We have discussed these changes in terms
of the "decline of our traditional engineering sector"
or "the progressive decline in manufacturing" or "employment
opportunities are moving from the manufacturing to the service
sector. In some cases change in certain sectors was both necessary
and inevitable. The decline in the overall numbers of people employed
in the manufacturing sector is however also a result of the huge
improvements in productivity that has been seen in many industries.
13. For example, in the carpet manufacturing
industry around 30 years ago, three to four people would have
been employed to keep a loom running and a large number of people
would have been employed in rectifying by hand the faults in the
finished carpet. Now one person can keep three or four looms running
and while faults are still corrected by hand, fewer people are
employed in this role because the number of faults coming off
the loom has been reduced. As in many other industries this major
improvement in productivity has been brought about as a result
of engineering-often embracing new technologies.
14. The relative decline in status for engineers
and the failure to celebrate the achievements of engineering has
a number of consequences. Among them are lower levels of pay than
in some other professions, and lower pay together with lack of
recognition make it harder to recruit new people into engineering.
This helps to accelerate a downward spiral in that as numbers
of people being attracted into the profession decline the number
of places where training can take place also declines. Several
people have commented to the Chamber that when they attend meetings
and conferences of engineers the number of young people present
is declining.
15. Chamber members believe that we should
learn from practice overseas. In many European countries a person
that has qualified as an engineer is able to indicate their profession
by putting an abbreviation of engineer in front of their name,
such as Eng or Ing, in the same way that a doctor can put the
abbreviation Dr. Frequently in discussions on recruitment into
engineering in this country, comparison is made with India and
China where the increasing numbers of young engineers (and scientists)
is widely publicised. It would be instructive to find out what
is done in those countries to attract young people in particular
into the profession and to see how we could learn from their experience.
16. Summary:
- Engineering has lost status compared to
other professions.
- Modern engineering achievements are not
celebrated.
- Both status and pay rates have declined
in comparison to other professions.
- The UK should look at best practice in
other countries to help understand how more people can be attracted
into engineering.
ENGINEERING, INNOVATION
AND R&D
17. Engineers see themselves, with justification,
as being problem solvers and having a very "can do"
attitude in their professional lives. They have a key role to
play in innovation and R&D in today's business world.
18. Earlier in this paper attention was
drawn to the huge increases in productivity that has been seen
in many parts of the manufacturing sector and engineering has
played a large part in this. Representatives of businesses in
sectors as diverse as construction and agriculture, automotive
and food production, environmental and medical technologies all
believe that they have a need for the skills of engineers of one
form or another both to maintain their existing operations but
also to be part of the development of the business and industry
in the future.
19. Engineers are often needed to translate
an innovative idea into a practical reality. The enhanced productivity
in carpet manufacture that was quoted earlier came about because
it was recognised that the application of computer technology
should be able to make it easier for one person to manage several
looms at once. However, it required knowledge of engineering to
apply that innovative idea to the looms and to make it work with
the undoubted success that has been achieved.
20. Politicians, Chambers of Commerce and
many others call for the UK to increase its focus on research
and development if it is to compete in the modern world and meet
the objectives in the Lisbon Agenda. However, there is an imbalance
in the support that is given in the UK to research and development.
It is often easier to get support for research rather than for
development. Clearly there is an overlap between the two, but
after research, whether in the academic world or elsewhere, there
is usually a need for some work to be done to translate the new
knowledge into a workable business idea and this is frequently
an area where engineering skills will come to the fore.
21. The boundaries between new ideas, good
design and the use of materials and resources come together in
engineering. It therefore makes the discipline important to both
research and development-the development of new knowledge and
the translation of that knowledge into products or services that
meet the needs of business and the market.
22. Summary:
- Engineering is a problem solving profession,
it has a natural inclination to innovation.
- Many new products and services are the
result of engineers bringing new ideas and knowledge together
in a practical combination.
ENGINEERING TRAINING
AND THE
SKILLS BASE
23. It has already been noted that there
is a decline in the number of recruits coming into the engineering
profession. The decline has further reduced the training places
that are available. There has been considerable publicity about
the reduction in the number of university departments that are
offering places in science and engineering, but, there is also
a decline in the number of local colleges that are offering training
for those that wish to seek craft based training in engineering.
24. The two routes into the engineering
profession through university and through craft based training
are important to the industry. Many businesses have spoken to
the Chamber over a number of years about their concern that they
are finding it difficult to recruit engineers including those
at technician level that earlier would have been graduating from
local colleges.
25. At present in Herefordshire and Worcestershire
it appears that there is only one training provider, based in
Hereford that has an engineering workshop and offers genuine workshop
based training for industrial apprenticeships. Several businesses
have said that it is very difficult for young people to get this
training because having just left school they will not have their
own transport and public transport will not enable them to get
to training easily from many parts of the area.
27. It is important to assess the skills
acquired by the two access routes into the profession. Some of
the engineering graduates from university are said to be weak
in some of the practical based skills. This can not only be a
problem when they are taking up a position in industry but also
can hold them back in not having a proper appreciation of practical
implementation of some ideas.
28. There are many diverse and specialist
areas within the overall engineering sector. This sometimes means
that the specialist training needed within a specific sector is
limited. For example, a Worcestershire based business that undertakes
geophysical surveys for clients ranging from civil engineers to
archaeologists has said that it has to recruit graduates both
to do those tasks that it would expect to be done by a graduate
level engineer but also to do tasks that could be done by a technician
because it finds it almost impossible to recruit appropriately
trained people at technician level.
29. That particular business would be happy
to offer training at technician level and would be willing to
work with appropriate bodies to ensure that the training was properly
accredited and at a standard that would be accepted by others,
a genuine qualification. Training in this way may be applicable
in other specialisms and mechanisms to help businesses provide
training in this way would be beneficial.
30. Clearly if we are to see an increase
in the number of people entering the profession it is important
to ensure that there is a clear understanding among young people
in particular about what the opportunities and challenges are
when they are making career choices. Earlier, in the paragraphs
on the perceived status of the profession it was noted that engineering
is sometimes seen as dirty and lacking in real skills and challenges.
That perception is often reinforced in young people by attitudes
among adults such as parents and teachers who may also have a
lack of understanding of the present situation. More needs to
be done to correct this.
31. Business and bodies such as Chambers
of Commerce have a part to play in this, making more opportunities
available for young people and teachers to see modern engineering
and manufacturing operations at the time when education and career
choices have to be made. This can be done with more opportunities
for open days, work experience and similar schemes. Many businesses,
especially small businesses, recognise the importance of this
activity but are concerned about the additional work and responsibility
in arranging this. However it is important to their future to
invest time in this way.
32. In Malvern, in South Worcestershire,
a group of manufacturers on a large industrial estate where many
are in high technology businesses, grouped together to open up
to students from local schools together with their teachers and
parents and enable them to see the opportunities that were being
offered. This proved to be a very useful exercise and dispelled
many myths for the young people and adults and made them aware
of exciting career opportunities.
33. Summary:
- The decline in recruits to the sector has
contributed to the decline in training places.
- There is a need to encourage more entrants
to the profession through the craft based route as well as the
university route.
- It is important for university graduates
to have an adequate grasp of practical skills.
- More needs to be done at local level by
business, Chambers of Commerce and others to make young people,
their parents and teachers aware of the opportunities and challenges
in engineering and to dispel inaccurate and outdated images.
CONCLUSION
34. Engineering is, and will remain, vital
to the future of the UK economy. It has suffered because of the
expansion of the service sector in relation to the manufacturing
sector and the changes that have taken place in many traditional
industrial sectors. These changes have tended to produce a general
view that the smaller engineering and manufacturing sector is
therefore less important and "less modern".
35. It is necessary for us to address the
issue of public understanding of the nature and importance of
engineering to our modern economy. Linked to that is the issue
of status and remuneration in the profession and the importance
of celebrating the success and achievements of our engineers.
36. The UK has a proud and distinguished
engineering history and will continue to need the same skills
and creativity in the future if it is going to develop as a place
to invest and to grow a business and to meet the targets of the
Lisbon Agenda.
March 2008
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