Derek Boyd, CEO, National Microelectronics Institute, talks to Electronics Weekly about skills shortages, the areas where the problem is most acute, and how the UK compares for skills with other countries.
1. Is there a skills shortage in the electronics industry and what impact is it having?
I am aware of manynmI member companies who are finding it increasingly difficult to recruit engineers domestically with the requisite skills and experience they need. Of course staff can be imported and work exported to solve the problem, but these are short terms fixes.
Reports tell us that there's been a decline of around 50% in the number of UK acceptances of places on Electronic and Electrical Engineering degrees in recent years and that only a third of recent graduates in the discipline move on to professional engineering careers. We are all aware of the 'ageing population' of engineers - new talent is needed. Longer term, UK global competitiveness will be affected by a skills shortage, that's why the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF) has been created.
2. What is the role of the UKESF?
The UKESF is a collaboration of public bodies, private companies and leading universities that will address the threat of diminishing skills in the UK electronics sector. Put simply, its role is to help industry increase and sustain the supply of industry-ready graduate engineers and boost career take-up in the sector. Its activities split into four key stages: interest young people in careers in electronics, attract the brightest young people into studying electronics at university, build relationships between industry, academia and students to help develop skills at under-graduate level, secure employment after graduation.
3. What are the short term targets?
The initial UKESF plan aims to have achieved the following levels of engagement with school and undergraduate students, companies and universities within 5 years: 80 participants p.a. (16-17 year olds) on summer schools, 1600 pupils p.a. (all ages) reached through employers engaging with schools, 160 new undergraduate scholarships p.a, over 100 sponsoring companies, over 50 companies engaging with schools, 10 partner universities across England, Scotland and Wales. Even at this time of great financial constraint participation in UKESF is already strong and by engaging with the foundation, companies can begin to address skills shortages right now.
4. Are there any skill areas where the problem is most acute?
I believe there's two critical areas: design and design-to-manufacture.nmI members tell us that they see shortages in graduate level skills across a number of disciplines, including analogue design, graphics, embedded software and firmware for example. At the same time there's shortages in test and manufacturing operations.
The beauty of UKESF is that it is demand led - employers will sponsor, support and develop bright young students in particular areas of technology interest. That's why the foundation has already drawn interest from domestic as well as foreign-owned companies.
5. How does the UK compare with other countries in Europe and Asia?
I hear from members with international facilities that the rest of Europe is also facing similar problems attracting young people into electronics, while it seems that no such problems exist in Asia. The UK electronics industry is currently the fifth largest in the world and is acknowledged as the European leader in electronics system design.
For us to maintain or better this position, it's the quality of our engineering community that is vital. Our ability to innovate and continue to produce design excellence is fundamental to our future as an industry and for this we need a continuous supply of the very best and brightest engineering graduates.
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