The Automation Skills Gap and How to Fill It

This is a problem worldwide. Some suggestions about a solution.

Short term. India and China are currently the only economies producing a surplus of trained engineers. Import some. Issue work permits or green cards.

Medium term. Take this away from the politicians. As part of their recent successful election campaign, a UK Conservative Party policy is to create thousands of new training places to fill just this gap. Like most political promises it failed to take into account the situation that exists. There are not enough qualified trainers to train the existing college intake let alone radically increased numbers. You can train a technician in two years, but it takes ten years to gain enough knowledge and experience to deliver worthwhile training. Using pay and incentives to entice some of the current crop of engineers into training the next generation will initially make the situation worse. There will be no gain without some pain.

Long term. Change the perception about engineering and it's value to society. Part of this is about salary structure. A good engineer is as valuable and takes as long to train as a doctor, an accountant, or a lawyer, so they should get the same remuneration and kudos.

What is not mentioned is that many of the business that are crying about the lack of skilled workers today are the same companies that, twenty years ago, moved their manufacturing operations over-seas, and laid off all their skilled workers.

What is also not mentioned is that companies gave up on training because it was easier and cheaper to use engineers trained by others or by other countries.

Current and past UK governments have done nothing to encourage students into engineering - maybe by tax breaks for sponsoring companies or, by educational grants to the brightest.