At present, over half of manufacturers in the South East look overseas to recruit the brightest talent so that they can compete through products and services that are innovative, value adding and knowledge-driven.
In research commissioned by the Manufacturing Advisory Service South East (MAS), Michael Hall, Senior Information and Research Officer at EEF South, warns regional manufactures that they may not be able to rely on migrant workers as a long term source of much-prized skills. Instead, he concludes in his paper ‘Pole-to-Pole’, there will need to be more sustainable – and home grown - solutions.
This is because the developing countries are themselves rapidly creating infrastructures that demand retention of skills – this is happening already in China, Russia and Poland.
“There is an increased focus on innovation and quality within these regions - China in particular is forecast to require an extra 70,000 skilled business leaders by 2017,” says Michael Hall. “This situation could impact on UK employers in the medium term and make the current skills shortage even more acute.”
The South East is currently the largest region for manufacturing by employment and home to a significant number of high technology, advanced engineering businesses. Research by EEF South suggests that up to 60% of these manufacturers have, at one time or another, recruited from the new EU accession states
However, records show that the rate of immigration from the EU is slowing – it is 9% down on 2006 and many migrants intend to return home after a three month stay. Furthermore, London is rapidly losing out as a destination – many are travelling further north and to Scotland due to the lower cost of living compared to other regions.
Comments Michael Hall: “Employers will increasingly need to recognise the potential value of apprenticeship schemes and the efforts that further education and higher education institutions are making to improve engineering and technical skills. There are some encouraging signs – for example the student numbers on science, technology and engineering courses are increasing, but there will likely be medium term recruitment difficulties. That said, we do need to invest in a sustainable approach to high level skills that does not rely as heavily on migration.”
For a full copy of the “Pole to Pole” report please visit www.eef.org.uk/south
ENDS