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400,000 new jobs but not enough skilled workers!
July 6th, 2009 by Barry PotierThe Telegraph reported on Saturday that ‘A “green revolution” that should create 400,000 jobs is to be launched by ministers later this month in the most ambitious ever bid to transform the British economy, industry and sources of energy.’
Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, will unveil a White Paper that will spell out how emissions will be cut by at least 34 per cent on 1990 levels by 2020 and a ‘Renewable Energy Strategy’ to increase its use to 15 per cent of Britain’s total energy supplies by the same date.
Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, will launch a ‘Low Carbon Industrial Strategy’ which the Government hopes will create 400,000 new jobs in environmental industries over eight years and “transform our whole economy and change our industrial landscape, our supply chain and the way in which we all work and consume.”
This sounds all very well in theory but nobody seems to be addressing the continuing problem of skills shortages. Take a look at the government’s latest shortage occupation list and you’ll see for example that we have a distinct shortage of geotechnical and geo-environmental specialists. And yet surely for these ambitious plans to get of the ground, these are the sort of people we’ll need.
Could one of the reasons for these shortages be that we have a shortage of maths and science teachers at secondary education level? Yes, they’re on the list as well.
If Peter Mandelson wants to create these 400,000 jobs over the next 8 years, somebody needs to rethink our education system and quickly. Graduates entering the workplace in 8 years time are now in secondary education and if current trends continue they will be steering away from science subjects.
We hear different numbers all the time and the truth is no-one really knows how many new jobs will be created. But whatever the number, there is a massive skills shortage and it can only be met by increasing the number of graduates and younger people coming into the Engineering industry in general and increasing this skill set across all industries and disciplines.
How can we achieve this? Is the answer to make science subjects compulsory, at least until ‘O’ level in the hope that more students will become interested enough to pursue them further? And what measures should be taken to help people already in the workplace upgrade their skills?
Unless we act quickly, all these ambitious plans will become nothing more than just plans that never come to fruition.
What should the government be doing to solve the skills shortage problem? We’d love to hear your views…
Tags: geotechnical specialist, green revolution, renewable energy strategy, UK government skills shortage
July 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
When you use the phrase “labor shortage” or “skills shortage” you’re speaking in a sentence fragment. What you actually have to say is: “There is a labor shortage at the salary level I’m willing to pay.” That statement is the correct phrase; the complete sentence, the intellectually honest statement.
If you start raising your wages and improving working conditions, and continue to do so, eventually you’ll have people lining up around the block to work for you even if you need to have huge piles of steaming manure hand-scooped on a blazing summer afternoon.
Re: Shortage due to retirees: With the majority of retirement accounts down about 50% or more, people entering retirement age are being forced to work well into their sunset years. So, you won’t be getting a worker shortage anytime soon due to retirees exiting the workforce.
Okay, fine. Some specialized jobs require training and/or certification, again, raise your wages and improve benefits! You’ll incentivize people to self-fund their education so that they can enter the industry in a work-ready state. The attractive wages, working conditions and career prospects of technology during the 1980’s and 1990’s was a prime example of people’s willingness to fund their own education.
July 14th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
I have to say that I am disappointed by the response of the recruitment industry and renewable energy companies in general and feel that they ought to look above the horizon when seeking these hundreds and thousands of skilled workers.
Having had a personal interest in renewables for some time I have been finding out more about it via self funded Open University courses and installing my own solar hot water collector, etc.
I am a qualified Marine Engineer with a BSc, HND in Marine and Mechanical Engineering, Manager of a Service Department (30+ persons) dealing with capital plant installations, commissioning, service agreements every working day. I am also very good at trouble shooting and dealing with angry customers sensitively and diplomatically.
I was made redundant about a month ago following a company takeover and have been trying to get a new job, preferably in the renewable energy sector.
Every recruitment consultant I have spoken too so far has the same mantra. “You have no experience in our industry.”
Surely, these valves, pipes, motors, pumps, compressors, generators, wires, etc cannot be so different that I could be trained fairly rapidly. Equally, I have had a raft of legislation to comply with in my own industry. Once again there should be no rocket science here either.
So, a challenge. The next time you need staff or are trying to fill vacancies look over the horizon a little bit. You wont be disappointed!