Clearly, never before in the field of human civilization has so much been kept working by so few. That’s what nine of the UK’s leading labour market surveys seem to be saying about engineers who are dominating all the key demand/demand growth tables and skills shortages lists
And that’s why the UK needs a lot more engineers to go contracting, because locking them up in permanent roles is denying their skills to the rest of UK PLC. The more flexible the engineering workforce, the better UK PLC can keep the home fires burning and fulfil growing international demand for UK engineering talent.
If you are an engineer, or you know one, now is probably a very good time to go contracting, because your country – and it seems a great many others - definitely needs you.
Why? Let’s look at the facts. Engineers feature at, or near, the top of demand/demand growth league tables in the following:
- Monster Employment Index
- Reed Job Index
- Recruitment and Employment Confederation (REC)/KPMG Report on Jobs
- Bank of Scotland Report on Jobs.
Engineers (in some tables called ‘technical’ or ’specialists’) are particularly difficult to recruit, or are being recruited from overseas, according to:
- The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD)/Hays Resourcing and Talent Planning Survey
- Manpower’s 2011 Talent Shortage Survey
- The CIPD/KPMG Quarterly Labour Market Outlook Spring 2011
- The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey
- The CBI/Harvey Nash Employment Trends Survey.
Indeed, according to Manpower’s UK managing director, Mark Cahill, engineering alongside IT tops the skills shortages leagues: “The greatest unmet demand is for highly sought-after candidates ... such as engineers and IT specialists. Engineers have, it seems, become the new plumbers!”
So, if you’re an engineer and you’re not yet contracting, you probably want to know what’s in it for you? Well, you’ll probably earn more money. A lot more money. And if money isn’t enough to make you consider leaving a permanent post, how about the thought of longer, better holidays that the money, and the contracting lifestyle, makes available to you.
And then there’s the chance to challenge yourself, or at least to do much more interesting work. That’s what’s on offer when you’re an engineering contractor in demand, as you’ll get to pick and choose the projects you work on. Not only that, but you’ll probably spend a lot more time actually doing what you do best and most enjoy, as you’ll be project-focused and not have to waste time and effort on corporate nonsense.
So going contracting now is not just good for UK PLC, it’s good for you. As Lord Kitchener might have said: “Engineers: Your Country Needs You! (to go contracting).”