SEMTA + Metals
SEMTA Regional Contact:
Lindsay Middleton, Operations Manager - North
SEMTA + Metals
Operations Department
Wynyard Park House
Wynyard
Billingham
TS22 5TB
www.semta.org.uk
Learning and Skills Council Contact: simon.wigington@lsc.gov.uk
Click here for the SEMTA North East Fact Sheet
If you would like to view the SEMTA 2006 labour market survey of the GB engineering sectors, please click here
ECITB 2006 Industry Report - Building Capacity and Capability through the Regions
2006 saw a significant upturn in work in the engineering construction industry with increases in the numbers of people employed and the take up of ECITB products and services, for more information and to download the report, please click here
Overview of the Sector in the North East
SEMTA is the SSC for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies.
There are 2064 workplaces. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
Only 14% of employees in this sector are female compared with 19% in England as a whole. Virtually all the employees (99%) in the region are white as opposed to 95% nationally. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
39% of the workforce are aged 45 years and above which is slightly less than the national proportion of 41%. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
The proportion of the workforce with NVQ3+ or equivalent is the same as found in England as a whole, i.e. 51%. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
Key issues facing the sector now and in the future
- Contribution of shared resources
- Ensuring sustainable demand led provision
- Ensuring that the right person is receiving the right training at the right time
- Ensuring there is both bite size and substantive programmes to meet employer need (Middleton 2005)
Employment Issues in the North East
Current and forecast recruitment demand (either for growth or replacement)
- 79, 835 people are employed in the sector with a decline forecasted of -19% between 2002 and 2014.
Recruitment difficulties and causes
The proportion of companies in the region reporting vacancies, HTF vacancies, skills shortage vacancies and internal gaps is slightly higher than the national figures. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005 from NESS 2003)
The proportion of NE companies reporting vacancies is 21% compared with 18% nationally. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005 from NESS 2003)
The proportion of NE companies reporting HTF vacancies is 13% compared with 10% nationally. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005 from NESS 2003)
Attracting people into the sector
To maintain global competitiveness, companies are introducing higher value products and this will result in the proportion employed at operator level decreasing, however, at the same time, there will be an increasing need for skills craft persons, technicians and graduate engineers across the four main sub sectors:
- In aerospace, it is envisaged that the proportion of graduates in the industry could rise to be as high as 50% by 2022.
- There has already been a decline in the overall numbers of operators in electronics, automotive and aerospace sectors. The trend is expected to continue over the next few years and along the entire supply chain. The decline in operators is due to increased automation, changing technologies and the move to higher value products. (Middleton 2005)
- The low level of young people coming into the engineering sector and the difficulties employers are already experiencing in recruiting appropriately skilled people means that the industry must actively market the opportunities in the industry to under-represented groups such as women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities. (Middleton 2005)
Skill requirements of new recruits
Skills shortages and skills gaps within the sectors are mainly (approximately 80%) technical and practical rather than generic. The skills gaps and shortages impact on the industry by increasing operating costs, causing difficulties in meeting customer service objectives, difficulties in introducing new working practices and delays in developing new products or services. (Middleton 2005)
Technician and craft level technical and practical skills will be of greater significance as industry moves to more high value added processes to deliver next generation products. Upskilling into hybrid skills sets at NVQ Levels 3 and 4 and equivalent will be needed to meet the challenges ahead. (Middleton 2005)
Literacy and numeracy skills will remain an issue in the industry overall which will require ongoing support. (Middleton 2005)
Workforce Development in the North East
Skills shortages/gaps in existing workforce and latent skills issues.
The proportion of companies in the region reporting vacancies, HTF vacancies, skills shortage vacancies and internal gaps is slightly higher than the national figures which suggests general skills shortages. (Regional Fact Sheet from NESS 2003)
The proportion of NE companies reporting a skills shortage vacancy is 12% compared with 8% nationally. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
The proportion of NE companies reporting internal skills gaps is 27% compared with 22% nationally. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
Future skills demand
Constant innovations and productivity improvement is prompted by highly competitive global marketplace where rapid technological change and the emergence of new international players is the norm. In the operating environment where there is global manufacturing overcapacity, improvement is being driven from the OEM’s throughout the supply chain. The following drivers of change have been identified as being of particular importance to the sector:
- Management and Leadership – the automotive and aerospace sectors have identified team leaders and frontline supervisors, competent in high performance working as vital to support globally competitive, lean operation and Process Excellence
- There is a need for a better supply of vocationally qualified team leaders
- Skill gaps among managers extend across all sub sectors in terms of knowledge management and negotiation skills
- Productivity and competitiveness – new product and process and development and implementation (NPPDI). A reduction in NPPDI time is a major contributor to the competitiveness of all sectors, though the time from product to market in each sector is very different
- Supply chain management – supply chain management is identified as a key business and competence issue for achieving global competitiveness. Supply chain integration and management is becoming increasingly important
- Continuous improvement and lean/process excellence – adapting to the competitiveness of the global market is most longstanding in automotive and aerospace where ‘lean manufacturing’ and Process Excellence techniques are important drivers (Middleton 2005)
Prioritisation of skills issues within the industries
Engineering sector Strategy Groups identified the following as key priorities for employer action:
- Management and Leadership
- Productivity and Competitiveness
- Technical Workforce Development
- Manpower Planning and Recruitment
Relevance and quality of existing provision
Overall, 64% of training providers say that if there was demand then they have the capacity and capability to provide additional training courses. Almost half (48%) report that existing courses are under threat from lack of demand. Almost the same proportion (44%) report that they have demand for courses that they cannot provide. IT specialist courses feature strongly, including CAD, CAM, 3D modelling and CNC programming as well as business improvement courses.
Barriers to employers accessing the skills provision they need
The proportion of NE firms (62%), which provided funding for training within the previous 12 months, is similar to England (63%). (Regional Fact Sheet 2005 from NESS 2003)
The proportion of companies in the sector reporting no barriers to training is higher than at the national level – 30% compared with 26%. (Regional Fact Sheet 2005)
Best Practice
The Aviation Academy at Newcastle Airport (funded by One NorthEast via the Tyne and Wear Partnership), aims to be a centre of excellence and provide world-class aviation engineering training for students in the North East. It has a fully functional Boeing 737 for students to learn the more practical elements of becoming an aviation engineer. Newcastle College has developed a 2-year National Diploma in aeronautical engineering which allows direct progression on to the Foundation Degree at the academy.
NEPA Engineering Fellows: 8 senior personnel have been recruited as fellows from NEPA companies. The Fellows will be placed in host companies where, supported by HEIs, they will use their knowledge and expertise to address productivity issues, in order to deliver major financial benefits and enabling participating companies to be more globally competitive and help to retain the North East's manufacturing base.
References
Middleton 2005 - Lindsay Middleton, Operations Manager - North
North East SBS 2008 Leaflet [pdf]
(474 KB)
