Manufacturing Jobs on the rise              

Employment growth in Britain’s manufacturing sector reached its highest level in more than three years in October this year. The sector expanded at a much faster rate than expected, leading to the 15th successive month of job creation in the manufacturing industry.

This is great news for job seekers as they have an ever-increasing pool of positions to choose from as the demand for skilled workers outweighs the supply but subsequently a painful time for growing manufacturing firms struggling to fill their jobs.

Why is there a shortage?

The manufacturing industry is extremely top heavy with many Engineers rapidly approaching retirement. Although the government has invested heavily in apprenticeship schemes within Engineering to build up a talent pipeline it still leaves a gap in the middle for experienced Engineers. This is compounded by the fact that many of these sought-after Engineers are being counter offered by their existing employer when they do look to move companies.

Companies expectations are also high with the age hold problem of needing an Engineer to hit the ground running, as production cannot stop in a fast-moving manufacturing environment, verses training and developing a fresh apprentice where productivity will ultimately take a dive.

Some have said that new technology will wipe out many manufacturing jobs however these machines will need maintenance and technological updates which are tasks performed by highly skilled Engineering candidates. As these new technologies develop, there will be an increasing need for different sets of skills in order to be successful within the industry.

A simple solution

All of these factors may mean companies considering candidates that we would not normally put forward for interviews and moving the focus away from skills and towards the aspirations and motivations of the candidate.

We are keeping up to date with all these industry changes and are looking and new and innovative ways that we can help our clients. 

Contact our head office on 0208 166 5252 to find out how we can help you.

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