There is a “gobsmacking” shortage of talent in the engineering sector - but several ways that the huge problem could be tackled.
That was the claim by Rhiannon Carss of Liverpool -based national firm Curtins at a recent panel session on skills in property.
The discussion came as part of an alternative MIPIM event held for Marketing Liverpool’s delegation after the annual property showcase in Cannes was postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
It took place on March 10 at the Crowne Plaza hotel in Liverpool city centre, and was attended by dozens of delegates who had been set to descend on the south of France.
The discussion saw a panel including Ms Carss, Helen Brown from Brabners and Sue Patterson from Morgan Sindall Group cover issues such as gender barriers, diversity and social mobility in the property sector.
The three panelists were asked by Mark Davies, architect director at Professional Liverpool, what the biggest challenges were in this area.
Ms Carss, who is head of communications at Liverpool-based engineering consultants Curtins, said: “Our biggest challenge is the skills shortage that we're facing. It varies in where you look and what stats you listen to and what you read, but The Royal Academy of Engineering released some figures showing we've got a shortfall of 60,000 technicians and engineers annually, which is pretty gobsmacking.
“There's not one reason why we face that shortage, but I think one of those is the misunderstanding certainly at school level and the talent pipeline coming through from education, of what engineering is. Personally, I had no idea when I was coming through [the education system].
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“But of course, these days, we are competing with careers in industries like gaming. People in schools want to be professional gamers, influencers. My six year old wants to be a mermaid - I'm trying to compete with that.
"They don't really think about traditional routes like engineering but actually, in a world like engineering now, we are talking in a different language.
“The technological and the digital advances that are happening in our offices at the moment blow my mind.
“But I think what's happening is that conversation isn't going through to primary schools and secondary schools, when these students are making their choices about what careers to choose.”
She said it was important for the industry to relay that message to education leaders.
“We put a lot on teachers. We expect them to teach Pythagoras' theorum and sex education and look after our children's wellbeing. And in actual fact, why should they be responsible for teaching about every career opportunity that's out there?
“I don't think they should be - I think we should take responsibility for that.
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“So I think that's one of our challenges. It's almost to rebrand what engineering is, for those students that are coming through.”
Ms Carss said the other main challenge faced by the industry is “we are only really tapping into 50% of the population”.
“About 8% of professional engineers are women,” she said.
“So clearly, if we could just untap that - if we could just reach into that talent pool, then surely there's your solution. If only it was an easy solution, then we would be doing it.
“We are trying to appeal to Generation Z. The challenge for us is to make sure that as a business, we're a business that attracts both men and women, and that once they're with us, we retain them. And that we understand that perhaps their expectations of employment are different to the traditional model that we've been experiencing."
Ms Brown, a partner in Brabners’ property team, said the legal sector does not face the same skills gap - but that diversity among those applications was the prevalent challenge.
She said: “We have a high number every single year of quality law graduates coming out of Liverpool University and other universities and applying for training contracts, and we have a really difficult job trying to whittle down what is about 150 applications for three or four jobs each year.
“Law is traditionally a white, male, middle-class career. The profession as a whole has come on leaps and bounds in terms of gender, so we are seeing more women coming through now, certainly at junior levels, and we've got more women working as solicitors than we have men.”
She explained: “The challenge is the social mobility aspect.
“So unless you've got a parent or adult contact who's a lawyer already, or an accountant who has lawyer contacts, it's really difficult for people to get through the door.
“To get that work experience on their CV will help get people into interviews, and ultimately into jobs, so that's what we're working on.”
Ms Patterson, senior business development manager at Morgan Sindall said construction has also experienced a skills shortage, but that the challenge was slightly different in this sector.
She explained: “We've got kids enrolling onto the Level One exam for example, and they are not progressing onto the next level - they are falling off.
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“There's a problem there, and we need to fix that problem because they're not actually coming into the industry.
“The industry is becoming more attractive, but we've now got to look at what's next. We are working on that with colleges.”
She said Morgan Sindall is currently working with Peel at Liverpool Waters and at the Knowledge Quarter in Paddington, a project where there is a classroom onsite.
Ms Patterson added: “So rather than having a student come on site for one week on their own to do work experience where they are shadowing and not really getting that much out of it, what we do is we bring a group together, and we do half of the sessions in the classroom with their tutor.
“Then for the rest of the sessions, they are out on site and they are actually building something - getting proper, real-life experience.
“I think that's what we need to look at next - overcoming those challenges of getting kids through, building those links between industry and education.”
Ms Brown discussed some of Brabners’ social mobility initiatives including allocating work experience to people from less privileged backgrounds, and career progression opportunities for staff already at the firm.
That means chances for paralegals to gain qualifications to become solicitors, and schemes for people working in administration, finance and more to become paralegal apprentices, she said.
The panel were asked if women face a barrier in getting into the industry.
Ms Carr said: “I've got to be honest. I really don't feel that my gender has been a barrier.
"Whether that's a position that I'm fortunate to have been in, or whether that I've made my own fortune, I don't really know.
“But it's never been something that I've seen as a challenge. However, I'm very, very aware that for other people it is.”
She said there are now a “few things” that can be done.
“I think that we need to engage everybody in the conversation, because at the end of the day, it's something that we all have to discuss and engage with.
“[Additionally,] we make this assumption that women look to women as role models. That's certainly not been in my experience.
“I think that men can role model behaviours that they want to see as well for women. So I think that's really important to us. And I think for those women that have got that, I would just say lift as you climb. Look behind you and bring people along for the journey as well.”
Ms Brown also said she didn't feel like her gender had made a difference to her progression.
She said: "I think that's more of an attitude thing. I've just gone for it and been quite bullish.
"I always use the example that during my first promotion at Brabners, I was pregnant at the interview when I actually made the application. I'm really thankful to Brabners and the male role models for not letting that hold me back.
"Until very recently, the number of female partners at Brabners was embarrassingly low. It's increased considerably over the last couple of years. “
She said there are now a number of “youngish female” partners at Brabners who can act as role models for the younger women coming through the ranks.
Ms Brown added: “It's really important because there is still that blocker. For some reason, or for many reasons, many women who could get senior roles make the decision not to as they have families and their priorities change, but for those who don't make that decision and do want to progress, it's really important that we all stand up and draw attention to issues like this.”