Blog » Conference urges young people to become engineers

Conference urges young people to become engineers

2nd March 2015

How to encourage young people to take up a career in advanced manufacturing and engineering was the focus of a recent conference.

The ‘Engineering a Better Tomorrow’ conference, hosted by SEMTA and Energy & Utility Skills in collaboration with the Department for Employment and Learning, brought together employers, educators and policy makers to address the possible future skills shortage in the sector.

Research commissioned by the Department for Employment and Learning (DEL) established that the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors rank low on the list of careers that young people areinterested in pursuing.

Employment Minister Stephen Farry said: “It is vital that we have the skilled workforce in place to meet the needs of investors and indigenous companies. My department is working with employers, other Government departments and our local colleges and universities to put in place a range of actions aimed at addressing employers’ engineering skills needs.

“If we are to enable Northern Ireland to compete globally, it is fundamental that we increase our export base and in this context the manufacturing and engineering sectors will be pivotal. To achieve these aspirations it will be essential that they have the skills and technical knowledge to produce innovative products and to develop the sector.”

“The Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Services (AMES) sector is of critical importance to the growth of the Northern Ireland economy and that is why I established a Working Group to identify and address the skills challenges faced by this industry. The Working Group has developed an Action Plan which will help to enhance the quality of the workforce, maximise employment opportunities and give our local Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering Services industry a competitive edge in the global marketplace.”

Grace Storey, EU Skills strategy manager, said: “As part of the action plan from the AMES Skills Needs Research Report, a perceptions benchmarking study was carried out with students, teachers and parents in Northern Ireland.

“We learned from the study that many of those surveyed know little about the advanced manufacturing and engineering industry, and that many students would rather choose another career path.

“This event is all about encouraging more young people to consider a career in the exciting advanced manufacturing and engineering sector.”

Back to Top