Many northern employers still suffering from skills shortages

A quarter of Northern based engineering and manufacturing companies are under resourced as a result of skills shortages or recruitment budget restraints, according to a survey by Jonathan Lee Recruitment, which specialises in recruiting for the engineering and manufacturing sectors and has an office in Wakefield. The majority (53%) also say that the credit crunch has had no effect on the skills shortages.

According to the research, the biggest shortages are in manufacturing and operations (23%) and engineering (32%). The lack of the right skills can have a serious effect on business, with a quarter saying it leads to problems with on time delivery, and a fifth (21%) saying it affects the quality of their product or service.

The shortages donít seem to be short-lived either, with half of the under resourced companies saying they have been in that position for between one and three years and a quarter for over three years. When asked why they are unable to recruit the right staff, the majority (43%) stated this is because they either canít find the right skills or canít attract people with the appropriate skills. Over a third (38%) stated they donít have sufficient budget to take on anybody new.

Andy Tierney, Jonathan Lee Recruitmentís Regional Manager of Northern Operations, commented: ìThere is the perception that because of the economic downturn and inevitable redundancies, there is suddenly an increase in the number of engineering skills available to employers thus ending the skills shortage. Our research shows that the candidates on the market are not necessarily suitable for the jobs that are available. Engineering and manufacturing companies are still struggling to recruit specialist skilled people to meet their needs.

ìGiven that we still see the skills gap now, the long term concern is that the problem will worsen once recovery is underway because of the loss of engineers to other sectors and the reduced numbers of people choosing engineering as a career. The challenge for all of us is to use creative methods of retaining key personnel whilst increasing the profile of careers in engineering and manufacturing,î concludes Tierney.

The survey was carried out with 80 professionals responsible for recruitment in northern based engineering and manufacturing companies.