I work for a computer solutions provider dealing with, among
others, manufacturing companies based in the greater midlands area and there is
one thing I keep hearing over and over:
“We have vacancies to fill but we just can’t
find the right people”
We, as a software company, have also been looking for both
development and support staff recently and have been faced with the same
problem.
Engineering seems to be becoming a dying art, as the old
guards retire no one is coming in to fill their, steel toe capped, boots. Whether I talk to people in design,
manufacture or the tool room the story is the same.
I firmly believe that in this day and age engineering is just
not seen as important, or even glamorous, enough. Part of the responsibility for this lies with
the education system, part with society but also a large part with British
management style.
Education pushes people to use engineering as a stepping
stone into management which is reinforced by society which seems to value
people in middle management more highly than the engineers they rely on to get
their widgets out of the door. Now I am
not saying that management is not important, it is. As is sales, marketing, admin and all the
other disciplines which make the manufacturing sector tick.
But in order for us, British manufacturing, to recover,
innovate and compete we need to appreciate the humble (and not so humble)
engineer far more than we do currently.
Engineers should not feel that the only way to earn the prestige and
financial rewards they deserve is be promoted to management, they should be
made to feel appreciated for what they actually contribute. Fred is not “one of the guys from the tool
room” he is the craftsmen who makes the tools which allows you, the
manufacturing company, to make the quality product and deliver it on time and
on budget.
Apprenticeships should play a major role in securing our
engineering future. During a recent
visit to the Land Rover Defender production line at Jaguar Land Rover in
Solihull I learned they had just invested in three hundred new engineering
apprentices and that the training and rates of pay are attractive enough to
keep engineers where they belong, in engineering.
What should we do?
Employ and train more engineering apprentices and, above all, APPRECIATE
AND CELEBRATE THE ENGINEER!
And, yes, I regard myself as an engineer, albeit a software
engineer! I was promoted to management,
wasn’t very good and ended up as a (far from) humble software engineer
again. I consider myself lucky to work
for a company who rate my contribution more highly than they rate my job title.
Ian Marshall
Software engineer by trade (30 year veteran), frustrated
engineer by inclination. Passionate
about engineering in general, restoring old motorcycles, 3d printing,
electronics and both CNC and manual milling and turning. And don’t get me
started on how I believe 3D printing could, should and will affect engineering
in the future!
