Britain could be ‘sleep walking’ towards a net zero skills shortage according to a report by EngineeringUK, which says government must get better at understanding green skills gaps in sectors crucial to achieving net zero commitments.
The report is an analysis of research from across the engineering sector and warns that there is no ‘back-casting’ being undertaken to establish whether necessary numbers of young people are acquiring STEM qualifications to respond to the climate crisis.
“More needs to be done to encourage and enable young people across the UK to take up STEM-based qualifications with a view to tackling the climate crisis,” said EngineeringUK’s head of environmental sustainability Mike Hardisty.
“If we don’t have enough young people studying chemistry and physics now, for example, it could lead to a shortage of electrical and chemical engineers, which means we will not have the necessary skills in the future workforce.”
He suggested that the government’s new Unit for Future Skills may offer “a good starting point” to act as a hub, guiding government on workforce issues such as by producing a regular national labour forecast.
“It’s clear that we could be sleep walking towards a net zero engineering skills shortage without knowing how big the skills and educational gaps are and where they are,” he added. “We need to change that to ensure that the right policies are in place to address this.”