Apprenticeships may be what the engineering sector needs to solve its worker shortage

The UK construction sector recently received some good news, with S&P Global recently unveiling that it has seen its fastest pace of activity in over two years.

Stacey Hayes-Allen is director of corporate partnerships at Arden University

On top of this, civil engineering activity saw the fastest rate of expansion, reaching its highest level in nearly two-and-a-half years. This is likely driven by improving demand and growing customer confidence, as paused projects from the pandemic resumed.

While the industry begins its period of growth, an ongoing roadblock to positive progression is the shortage of skilled workers, one that could further stifle the industry from making its comeback post-pandemic.

Here’s why businesses should invest more in apprenticeships to close this widening skills gap.

The problem: meeting the demands of the industry

According to a report by EngineeringUK, demand for engineers is expected to grow faster than other occupations, with 25% of all job postings in the UK being for engineering roles. In addition, the number of ‘green engineering’ job vacancies has increased by more than half in the last five years. Between 2021 and 2022, the number of job advertisements for ‘green skills’ across engineering sectors increased by 48%.

Engineers play a key role in developing solutions to help fight climate change, which is why demand for them is continuing to rise. As a result, not only are we facing a shortage of workers, but we also need them to be agile and maintain the ability to advance as the industry continues to grow and change alongside society itself.

To add more fuel to the fire, the engineering industry experiences employee turnover at a greater rate than most other sectors. This not only places a greater need for stronger talent retention, but it also points towards the sheer importance of effective leadership within the industry. In fact, this has been found to be among the top business skills prospective employers in the engineering industry seek in candidates.

The solution: focusing on career development

An integral solution to solving the skill shortage is to invest more time in assisting employees with their career development. Degree apprenticeships, for example, offer a great avenue to upskill those in the industry with the latest knowledge that the engineering and construction sector demands. It also plays a significant role in attracting and retaining talent within a business, as upskilling becomes a more appealing benefit for workers.

When courses such as degree apprenticeships allow people to choose when they can prioritise studying, it will open doors for those with demanding home lifestyles or job roles – hopefully easing diversity disparity. It also means your employees are much more likely to stay on until completion, and often beyond, knowing they can flex their learning with their current lifestyle and have a rewarding career at your company.

One of our students, for instance, liked the flexibility a degree apprenticeship offers, with them telling us: “I’ve been looking for courses to develop my career for a long time. My partner and I have five children, which means outside of work I am incredibly busy. I needed a course which was flexible and affordable.

“Doing an online apprenticeship degree, therefore, was ideal for me. It allowed me to fit my development around my work and family life.”

What can businesses do?

Amey – a leading provider of full-lifecycle engineering, operations and decarbonisation solutions for transport infrastructure and complex facilities – has utilised degree apprenticeships for their employees.

The company states: “We want to ensure that we continue to serve those we work alongside with the best, most up-to-date solutions. Our purpose is to deliver sustainable infrastructure solutions and to protect our shared future; upskilling, therefore, is a massive part of that.

“We also wanted the culture of learning to trickle down to the rest of the business, so getting our team to learn and develop at a senior level will hopefully set the tone for more junior members of our team to also get stuck into lifelong learning.”

Working with Arden University, Amey enrolled multiple employees in their Level 7 Senior Leadership Apprenticeship Degree programme, which covers modules such as managing digital transformation and innovation, as well as leading global teams and organisations. This senior leader apprenticeship helps businesses enhance and sharpen their employees' existing skills, preparing them for the multitude of changes the industry is experiencing.

Upskilling serves a dual purpose: it keeps businesses relevant in a rapidly transforming economy, while also demonstrating that your business is investing in and cares about its employees' development and career goals. We’ve not only seen businesses benefit from this, but also an uptick in employee satisfaction as those in the industry get to advance in their career at no financial cost to them. But more importantly, it allows those who are working for you to make sure they are readily equipped with the skills they need as the industry becomes thirstier for those with green and tech skills.