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In the aftermath of the pandemic, the engineering and manufacturing industries are beginning to bounce back.

With a clearer focus on flexibility and loyalty, companies across the sector are looking to increase awareness around the breadth of available roles. In addition, we’re seeing an increase in the demand for professionals and graduates, as competition for talent continues to rise and businesses look for professionals who are passionate and committed to innovating the future.

The sector is experiencing substantial post-pandemic growth, and as such it’s an exciting time for those looking to start their engineering and manufacturing journeys, and be part of an increasingly diverse workforce.

Analysing the market

Engineering and manufacturing businesses once again are looking at ways to attract and retain talent to ensure future innovation. We’re currently battling a skills shortage, hampered by an ageing workforce, an economic shift, and a lack of careers awareness across all roles and regions. That said, throughout the market, we’re seeing a significant increase in computer numerical control (CNC) machining jobs that were affected by the pandemic, with roles in the automotive and aviation industries returning to pre-pandemic levels.

In the South East especially, there’s been a large uptake in quality roles in the last year, including electronics engineering roles, as more and more businesses actively seek new recruits. The biggest challenge for employers will be in how they promote opportunities. A larger focus on finding creative ways to attract and sway jobseekers to take up a new challenge is paramount.

"There’s also a need to upskill and reskill the current workforce, which includes both digital skills and the ability to work across multiple disciplines."

Kimberly Hunsdon
Engineering and Manufacturing Expert

Similarly, external candidates now have a multitude of options open to them in an increasingly digitised sector, and are encouraged to take time to research different career paths and potential employers.

It’s important for professionals to have a clear understanding of roles, duties and company expectations to ensure, when making make a move, that it’s the right one. Progression within the engineering and manufacturing sectors will depend on a candidate’s own ambitions and drive, alongside whether to progress down a technical, management or commercial pathway.

Resilient professionals

Due to surging inflation and rising energy prices gripping the nation, companies need to be mindful with their business models, especially when it comes to recruitment. For example, there have been some issues for manufacturers who are experiencing increased material prices and problems procuring the materials they need, which, in turn, has outlined the need to employ high-quality professionals who are able to navigate such situations.

Meanwhile, the engineering sector is establishing a culture of efficiency and resilience to connect and support new talent. Over the past 12 months, engineers have demonstrated their expertise, agility and adaptability in the face of adverse challenges created by rising demand.

As part of a talent retention strategy, companies should have a robust interview process in place to make sure they have allocated enough time to successfully recruit candidates – any delays in reviewing CVs, booking interviews and making offers will see jobseekers go elsewhere. The onboarding process should also support the candidate’s transition into their new job, to show that the business values and appreciates their contribution.

For those who are looking to move roles within the sector, it’s a great time to be an advocate for the industry and play a part in bridging the skills gap. Sharing knowledge, experience and passion through sector events, on-the-job training or social media, can help inspire those considering their career options.

The expectations on employers

Employees now have far greater expectations from their employers, and not necessarily just around remuneration. More recently, we’ve seen an increase in jobseekers look for enhanced benefits including flexible hours, job sharing, profit schemes, enhanced pensions and the ability to buy extra holiday. Engineering firms that can offer one or more of these benefits will increase their chances of attracting the best candidates.

Of those benefits, flexibility is a relatively new concept in manufacturing, due to the majority of duties needing to be carried out onsite. To counteract this, many firms are now offering flexible working around core operating hours to open up the candidate pool further, while job sharing has also become prevalent.

Engineers still favour additional benefits over salary, with industry professionals now seeming to prioritise stability, loyalty and job security when looking at roles.

"Employers are encouraged to review and evaluate current working conditions to offer employees a positive and inclusive work environment, which, at the same time, will enhance the ability to attract new talent."

Kimberly Hunsdon
Engineering and Manufacturing Expert, Reed

​​​Inclusivity, and diversifying your workforce, are the best ways to organically expand your talent pool and increase the longevity of your employees.

Here are some of the key dos and don'ts of inclusive recruitment:

What is inclusion and diversity?

“Without inclusion, diversity is doomed to fail.” Devi Virdi, Group Head of Diversity and Inclusion at Centrica. Inclusion is the act, and diversity is the result. Inclusion and diversity (I&D) is now recognised as an essential part of business. It’s not just a tick-box exercise or a ‘nice to have’. Once your company adopts an inclusive culture, the more diverse your company will become.

Diversifying your workforce has many positive outcomes, such as better employee wellbeing, productivity, and longevity. Creating an environment where people can bring their full selves to work can significantly increase employee attraction and retention because people will recognise your company or team as a place where they can love Mondays.

There is also a strong business case for it, which is often overlooked. According to the International Monetary Fund, discriminatory pay practices can cost the US economy between $1 trillion and $1.5 trillion in lost consumption and investment between 2019 and 2028. That means, there is a high return on investment in inclusion training and preventing discrimination and closing pay gaps.

Seven steps to an inclusive recruitment process

Rethink your fundamental requirements

There are certain roles for which neurodivergent people would be perfect, like data analytics roles, but the barriers to entry include requiring “excellent interpersonal skills” or being a “team player.”

In this case, professionals with conditions like autism are far less likely to apply for those roles because they do not believe this applies to them, despite being more likely to have the focus and skills needed than a neurotypical person. Employers must rethink what the fundamental requirements for the job are and consider whether your advert reflects this.

Develop grassroots talent

Does the perfect candidate really need a degree or five years’ experience, or could you find someone with the right mindset and potential and train them with the skills you need?

Or, if someone has the right skills and experience, but their soft skills are lacking, they may benefit from a mentor to build their confidence.

Watch your language

For employers to receive more applications and make the process accessible to everyone, you must be conscious of the language you use in your job adverts. Using inclusive language is an easy way to indicate that everyone is welcome to apply and be considered, if they believe they are the right fit for a role.

Gender neutrality is a simple way to ensure you don’t limit your talent pool and unintentionally alienate suitable candidates. One way to avoid this is to use online tools to eliminate gender-coded language from your person specifications, job descriptions and adverts which often go unnoticed​.

Remove barriers to entry

The placement of your job adverts is an often-overlooked consideration. Those who place their ads in tech magazines that require paid subscriptions might be excluding groups from lower economic backgrounds, for example.

Employers must also ensure that their application forms are inclusive of all genders, sexualities, ethnicities etc. by including an “Other” or “I’d rather not say” option, to give them space to tell you who they are if they wish to. It must be optional, or you could end up forcing someone to come ‘out’ prematurely.

Create a diverse interview panel

The first impression of your team takes place at interview and a lack of diversity could impact a professional’s decision to accept your job offer. It would benefit employers to think about how diverse their hiring panel is and do their best to represent the variety of people in their company.

Conversely, you must not over-correct and cherry-pick the same few people to be the ‘face of diversity’ or to hire certain people just to fill a quota in your company – no one wants to be tokenised or seen as a ‘diversity hire’.

Ask the right questions

Some employers don’t know what they legally can and can’t say, or ask, in a job interview. Training should be provided to each hiring manager to ensure they understand the dos and don’ts of interviewing. Generally, an interview question is illegal and discriminatory if you couldn’t ask everyone the same question.

One example that comes to mind is asking a woman if she is pregnant or thinking of having a baby one day. You couldn’t possibly ask the same question to a cisgender male candidate, which makes it discriminatory to ask of women. Asking everyone the same core set of questions will give your interview a good basis for objectivity.

Negate any bias

Everyone has their biases, but these should not influence your hiring decisions. Business leaders should ensure their hiring managers receive sufficient training in unconscious bias so they can identify their own biases and make more informed hiring decisions.

Working with a recruiter such as Reed, where CVs are anonymised before being sent over to you can also help here. It means you can make a decision on potential employees without being swayed by certain information available on their CV.

​​Our eBook, ‘Making tech inclusive: strategies for developing a more diverse workforce’, has been designed to help you reflect on what’s working and what’s not when it comes to your I&D policies, and improve in areas you may have overlooked.

There will always be room for improvement when working to achieve an equal and inclusive environment for everyone, as needs change over time. This comprehensive guide can help you gauge the needs of your workforce and allow you to attract and retain the best talent in IT.

By downloading this free eBook, you will find out:

• How diverse the technology sector is

• What diversity and inclusion mean and why they’re different

• What workplace challenges people from minority backgrounds face

• How to eliminate bias from your recruitment process

• Why inclusion and diversity benefit your business

• How upskilling can contribute to inclusivity

• Tips on expanding and diversifying your talent pool

• How to improve attraction and retention through inclusion

• The value of offboarding correctly

Developing a robust diversity and inclusion strategy doesn’t just help employees who are outside the societal norm, but everyone in your company. It will also have a positive impact on your bottom line. Here are some of the dos and don’ts of inclusive recruitment – you can find out more in the guide:

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This guide is for:

• Tech employers who want to widen their talent pool and diversify their workforce

• Business leaders who have policies in place but believe they can do more for their employees

• Anyone interested in adopting a more inclusive mindset.

"Removing the invisible barriers to inclusion by showing that your company is open to all will inevitably help you form a more diverse network, customer base and talent pool."