If you have tried to hire a maintenance engineer, a design engineer or a skilled technician in the last year, you will recognise the pattern. The advert goes out, a handful of applications arrive, and very few of them are close to the brief. Engineering jobs are among the hardest roles to fill anywhere in the UK economy, and the reason usually has little to do with how the advert was written.
The numbers are stark. Make UK has found that around 36% of manufacturing vacancies are classed as hard to fill because candidates lack the skills required, against roughly 24% across all industries. Its Industrial Strategy Skills Commission put the number of long-term unfilled vacancies in manufacturing at about 55,000, costing an estimated £6 billion in lost output every year.
Why engineering jobs are harder to fill than most
Two things are happening at the same time, and they pull in opposite directions.
At one end, a large share of the most experienced engineers in the country are approaching retirement. When a time served engineer leaves, decades of practical knowledge about specific machines, processes and faults goes with them, and that is not something a job advert can replace.
At the other end, not enough younger people are coming through to replace them. The share of the engineering workforce under 30 is small, and has been for years. Meanwhile EngineeringUK projects engineering occupations growing faster than the average across all occupations between now and 2030. Demand is rising while the pool is tightening.
So a vacancy that took four weeks to fill a few years ago can now take three months, and the shortlist is thinner when it arrives.
The engineers you want are almost certainly not looking
This is the part that catches employers out. Skilled engineers tend to be employed, well settled and long serving. They are not refreshing job boards on a Sunday evening. If your entire approach is an advert and a wait, you are only ever speaking to the small minority who happen to be actively searching that week.
Reaching the rest means going to them, having a proper conversation, and being able to answer a fair question: why would I leave a stable job I am good at? That takes discretion, sector knowledge and a bit of patience. It also means being ready to move quickly once someone does show interest, because a good engineer who decides to look will have options.
What actually persuades an engineer to move
Pay matters, and it has to be sensible for the discipline and the region. It is rarely the whole story though. In our experience the things that shift a decision are:
The work itself. The kit they will be responsible for, the variety, whether they will be problem solving or repeating the same task.
Shift pattern and travel. A reasonable commute and a predictable rota are worth a great deal to someone with a young family.
Training and tickets. Will you fund the qualifications that keep them employable and let them take on more?
Who they report to. A manager who understands the technical side is a genuine draw.
Stability. Order books, investment plans, whether the site has a future.
If those points are strong, say so early and plainly. They are the reasons somebody says yes.
Widen the brief before you widen the budget
A specification built around one candidate who left three years ago may keep coming back empty. It is worth separating what is genuinely essential from what is simply familiar.
Plenty of capable engineers move well between sectors. A technician from food production can often step into packaging or plastics, and an electrical background from one industry frequently transfers to another with a short period of support. Being open on sector, or on the exact machinery listed, can turn an empty shortlist into a real one without adding a penny to the salary.
The same goes for geography. Broadening the search radius slightly, or being flexible on start times to make a commute work, often reaches candidates who were always nearby.
If you are an engineer weighing up your own options, the shortage is working in your favour. Good employers know they have to compete, so it is fair to ask about training, progression and how the site is investing.
We have been recruiting engineering and technical staff across Yorkshire and the wider UK since 2009, on permanent, temporary and contract terms. If you are struggling to fill a technical role, or you are an engineer thinking about your next step, do get in touch, or have a look through our current vacancies to see what is live at the moment.
