Following concerns of a major skills gap, a new alliance for engineering and manufacturing has pulled together to champion an ‘industrial revolution sized opportunity’ worth hundreds of billions to the Scottish economy.
Launched at a high-level meeting at the University of Strathclyde, the Enginuity Alliance told delegates that there was £230bn at stake.
The money referred to is that which has been invested by government and the private sector into Scottish infrastructure across an array of industries, including food and drink, over the next 10 years. Whilst this is good news for the nation, the alliance has warned there won’t be the skills to service these projects. If that happens, billions will go down the drain.
According to James Prentice, director of corporate affairs of Skills Development Scotland, the nation will need an appropriate 1.1m additional workers over the next decade to plug the gap.
Scotland is an important part of the overall UK food and drink industry. Alone, this region makes up 14.6% of the sector’s total GVA in the UK, 10.8% of the UK’s food and beverage manufacturing turnover, and is responsible for 31.3% of its exports.
“This will have real world impact. The consequences of getting it right will improvement in growth, productivity and prosperity for all,” cautioned Enginuity Alliance chair, Sir Jim McDonald.
“The penny is dropping that the lack of available skills in the workforce will be one of the biggest drags on the UK economy.”
“If we don’t get this right, not only could we lose out on the manufacturing opportunity, but we risk serious reputational damage in terms of Scotland as a place to invest and do business,” Paul Sheerin, chief executive of Scottish Engineering added.
Ann Watson, CEO of skills charity, Enginuity which is spearheading the alliance, agreed, underscoring the importance of coming together to address the issue.
“All the major problems in the world can and will be solved by engineers,” she contended. “Engineers have the problem-solving capability, critical thinking and systems engineering, so who better to come together to solve the skills gap but engineers themselves?”
