Engineering news
A poll of 3,500 engineers has revealed the sectors pre-election views on the economy and what they would like political parties to include in their manifestos.
The poll was carried out by Matchtech, a leading engineering recruiter, which said that too little political attention has been focused on maintaining growth in engineering and manufacturing industries, with none of the political parties including concrete policy proposals around these areas in their manifestos.
Among the results three main issues arose focusing on tax, energy strategies and support for Stem students.
When asked what was important for them to see in party manifestos, 28% of aerospace engineers, and 27% of engineers working in the energy, oil and gas sector said that they would like to see government providing greater tax breaks and subsidies for organisations investing in engineering research.
Reducing corporation tax for manufacturing and engineering related businesses was also high up on the agenda for automotive engineers, with 22% of those polled agreeing it was an issue that needed government attention.
Unsurprisingly, 39% of nuclear and power generation engineers want to see a clear strategy for future investment in UK energy infrastructure and clarity on the energy mix (e.g. renewables vs. fossil fuels) outlined in parties manifestos. 24% of maritime engineers also said that this was a key issue for them.
In addition, almost 30% of engineers in all sectors stated that they want to see reduced university fees or government to provide additional financial support for those studying Stem, while 46% of energy oil and gas engineers called for greater investment in Stem apprenticeship schemes.
Matchtech said that while engineering and manufacturing have been at the heart of the recovery, there is now a serious, and widely recognised, skills gap in the industry that has to be addressed if the UK is to maintain its engineering recovery.
Keith Lewis, chief operating officer at Matchtech said: “All parties have highlighted the importance of infrastructure and housing in the UK economy, yet none have announced any policies that will support UK engineering, which provides the foundation for economic growth. There needs to be a focussed effort by the next government to ensure that the UK has the engineering talent it needs.
“Over the past year or so, there has been a surge in investment in infrastructure projects and as recent car registration figures have indicated, many engineering based industries are feeling the benefits of the improving economy. However, we need skilled engineers to support this investment and business growth, and clearly engineers believe more needs to be done to ensure this vital sector prospers in the long term.
“Presently a shortage of trained engineers creates a challenge for the future of UK engineering, with uncertainty for businesses that need engineering talent to deliver on new projects and grow profits.”
Prior to this weeks poll the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) published an analysis of the science and engineering policies of all the main political parties, bringing together manifestos, speeches, letters from the party leaders, and blogs by parliamentary candidates. Analysis of the report found that overall the Liberal Democrats edged above the Conservatives and Labour by offering concrete promises in its manifesto to invest in Stem education and ring-fence the science budget. To read the full PE news story on the CaSE report click here.