One new study has recently revealed that there is a serious shortage of skilled and experienced technology professionals, scientists, and engineers in the UK.
The Royal Academy of Engineering, which conducted the research, discovered that the economic recovery of the UK will require a bare minimum of 1.25 additional individuals to be trained in these sectors prior to the end of the decade. The next eight years will likely create more than 800,000 new science, engineering, and technology positions, according to the report, and while there are a large number of these qualified professionals working as freelancers or through umbrella companies, the Academy made the suggestion that because the current number of individuals receiving training and education in these fields is so small, there will be an additional 450,000 worker shortfall.
There’s only around 90,000 science, engineering, and technology graduates every year in the UK, and of those nearly one out of four decide to go pursue work in non-relevant roles. However, the Academy’s survey said that current demand will be more than 100,000 annually until 2020, leaving a serious shortage within the sector.
Royal Academy of Engineers president, Sir John Parker, called for the number of graduates in these crucial fields to be increased over the next decade in order to support the UK economy’s rebalancing efforts. It will simply be impossible to have a sustained and effective economic recovery without the contribution of an industrial strategy that features science and engineering roles in an integral manner, Sir John added.
