Dear editor,
At present an engineer can leave University with a first class degree and a real talent for his or her subject, but still lack many of the skills essential for his development as a future manager. As an employer I can’t send such recruits back – they’re like products without a warranty.
The universities would make the point that their role is to educate engineers, not to turn them into leaders – but in any case it’s not only our education system that is at fault: industry and government must share the blame.
Only a few years ago we – industry – didn’t want to employ graduates because we were entering a recession. As a consequence, the pool of twenty and thirty year old engineers is now too small.
Government won’t give grants to help my graduates acquire the extra skills they will need as future directors. If they had difficulties with figures or with reading, I could readily get funding to help them. For the future health of industry this type of help ought to be balanced with support to help create our future leaders. Top level funding would show a real commitment to British manufacturing that is barely visible at present.
To make things worse, Government limits the availability of real talent from overseas. My own business was forced to release an experienced and valuable staff member: he had to return to his own country because he couldn’t get a visa.
The resulting dearth of young electrical engineers suitable for employment affects my own and, I’m sure, other businesses. This will become a major problem in five or ten years when my older colleagues and I have retired.
I believe that education, industry and Government need to take steps to ensure that British engineering has the numbers of high quality, fit for purpose, members of staff that it needs.
From our educators we need better teaching of vocational skills. From industry we need an ongoing commitment to developing our employees’ abilities. And from our Government we need a greater willingness to invest in talent. ‘Education, education, education’?
Peter Duncan
Managing director
Cressall Resistors