Almost half of Scottish engineering firms plan to boost their number of apprenticeships amid concern about the availability of skilled employees.
Scottish Engineering’s quarterly review on skills reports 47% of respondents plan an increase across all three types of apprenticeship over the next three to five years.
The membership body for the engineering and manufacturing sectors said this reflects the increased focus on the skills issue.
Scottish Engineering chief executive Paul Sheerin said: “While skills remain the number one conversation point in our industry, the future supply of talent faces several challenges due to our currently historically low unemployment rate coupled with an ageing sector workforce.
“Add to that the increasing competition for STEM candidates from other sectors and industry, plus the Brexit impact of decreasing net migration, and you can see why we are more than encouraged to see that almost 50% of our survey plan to increase apprentice places in the medium term.”
The research shows that the Modern Apprenticeship programme having the most planned growth in the next 12 months with more than 43% of companies indicating plans for increased uptake.
The newer apprenticeship programmes for Foundation and Graduate streams showed lower increases of 16% and 21% respectively.
From that the industry body concludes that while the increase is welcome, there is still collective work to do to convince industry of the value of these work-based learning initiatives.
Looking beyond that, the survey asked employers what factors restricted their plans to increase the numbers of training places. The most common answer highlighted a lack of training resource and time within smaller organisations to do justice to the training of more young people.
Sheerin added: “Scottish Engineering has underlined the need to press the UK Government to look again at the content of their immigration policy proposal to take into account the differing needs of Scotland within the UK.
“The very last thing that our manufacturing industry needs is wider pressure across labour supply, whether that be for skilled engineering and technician roles, or just as importantly the operator group where we enjoy significant levels of EU nationals in our workplaces.
“In this respect our specific ask is that the UK Government this time act on feedback they receive in consultation, as there seems very little evidence of the extensive input given prior to the publication of the white paper actually influencing the output we received.”
Sheerin’s warning came as the CBI told Conservative leadership candidates that leaving the EU without a deal could not be an option.
Director general Carolyn Fairbairn wrote: “Firms large and small are clear that leaving the EU with a deal is the best way forward. Short-term disruption and long-term damage to British competitiveness will be severe if we leave without one. The vast majority of firms can never be prepared for no-deal, particularly our SME members who cannot afford complex and costly contingency plans.
“We need compromise, consensus and honesty to resolve the Brexit impasse, quickly. Prolonged uncertainty is damaging our economy now – driving up costs and reducing sales. Stockpiling of raw materials and goods among SMEs is at a record high. Billions of pounds in investment are being diverted from the economy, harming future jobs and prosperity.
“The CBI urges the next Prime Minister to build their approach to Brexit from the bottom up – from the clear, detailed evidence of firms, on the ground, managing the day-to-day implications for jobs. Only then will the UK have the foundations for a world beating economy.
“I invite all candidates to meet the CBI and our members to share ideas on how we can work together to build a Britain that’s fit for the future.”
