PEOPLE AND skills
The impacts of The UK leaving the EU on the engineering sector will clearly depend on many factors however, the UK already faces a serious engineering skills crisis, which could be exacerbated if access to the European engineering workforce becomes more restricted.
Demand for highly skilled engineers is expected to rise further in the years ahead with over 90% of businesses in engineering, science and hi-tech sectors expecting an increase in demand .Some 52% of engineering companies are currently recruiting engineers at technician level and above, with over half of those experiencing difficulties in recruiting the experienced engineers they need.
To help address this challenge, government has set out a programme to greatly expand the number of apprenticeships in England to three million by 2020. This is, of course, welcome and the engineering sector is committed to working with
government to realise this goal with apprenticeships that work for both trainee and employer.
However, training apprentices to the level that engineering businesses require takes time.
The lack of experienced workers (as opposed to trainees) is set out in the Home Office Shortage Occupation List. This details the sectors of the labour market where there is a demonstrable lack of employees from the EEA available to fill positions. Of the 32 standard occupations listed, half are either in engineering sectors such as civil, mechanical and electrical, or in allied professions including physical scientists and environmental professionals
As a minimum, government should put in place a mechanism to identify the gaps in essential skilled occupations that cannot be filled in the short to medium term domestically and develop a system similar to the current Shortage Occupation List or temporary short-term visas for people from EEA member states.
From 2017, all (non-trainee) intra-company transferees will be required to qualify under a single visa category with a minimum salary threshold of £41,50 significantly higher than the average minimum salary on the Shortage Occupation List . Therefore, for UK engineering businesses, it is essential that procedures for intra-company transfer on leaving the EU are extended to cover EEA citizens and remain accessible for skilled engineers and technicians.
Engineering businesses are also reporting that immigration policies are causing problems . Companies estimate the additional direct cost of recruiting an employee from outside the EU is currently between £2-4k and can take up to three months to process the visa application. If similar systems are put in place for EEA citizens after the UK leaves the EU, they could negatively affect UK businesses’ access to the flexible, project-based workforces that they need.
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