Engineering a vital link in short supply

Engineering is a truly ubiquitous profession: everyone needs an engineer. Not everyone recognises the importance of engineers in every sphere of economic activity since the public and media perception of the profession tends to be on the low side. Yet often, there are just not enough qualified personnel with appropriate experience to fill all the vacancies in a very diverse calling. A developing worldwide shortage of engineers is likely to exacerbate the situation here in Ireland.

Frank Burke, director general of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland, explains how widely used are the skills of engineers, from making the alarm clock that's used first thing in the morning, to roads, cars, computers, television sets and, finally at the end of the day, the kettle for that late night cup of tea. At virtually every stage of design, manufacturing and distribution, engineers are the vital link.

There's just one slight problem: they are in short supply, so that the best of them can virtually dictate their own salary cheques. One major player in the engineering sector, which already has several plants here, located a new plant abroad because it couldn't get enough skilled engineers here. One or two consultancy firms in Dublin are bringing in contract staff from Britain to try and ease the skills shortage.

Frank Burke says that some areas are creating more demand than others. Graduates and technicians are particularly needed for electronics, including computer manufacturers, and software companies. The high level of demand for electronic engineers is still to be replicated in other areas, but he believes it will happen.

Altogether, he estimates that about 20,000 engineers are at work in the Republic, with more than twice that number of technicians, up to 50,000.

Civil engineers form the biggest division of the Institution, with nearly 5,800 members, while electrical and electronics make up the next biggest division, with nearly 4,000 members.

Frank Burke reckons that about 1,200 engineering graduates a year go into all sectors of industry. The number of incoming technicians is probably twice as great.

Starting salaries are reasonable, around £14,000 for a technician and £16,000 for a graduate. That gap widens as graduates progress, and a graduate engineer with 10 years' experience could expect to earn between £30,000 and £40,000. Mr Burke says, however, that some technicians are very successful in the marketplace. A recruitment firm, Engineering Appointments, Dublin, is bringing out an up-to-date review of the sector, which will show detailed salary levels and where the demand is coming from. Neither are the job openings confined to Dublin. The electronics sector has come on very strongly elsewhere, too, including Cork city and county, Limerick and Galway, so that the new jobs are spread evenly around most main regional centres.

This outgoing year has been excellent for engineers. The construction industry, a prime employer of engineering personnel, showed growth of around 8 per cent in 1997, while the electronics sector has been just "bursting at the seams". Continued strong growth is predicted for next year.

A lot of recruitment firms are on the lookout at home and abroad for engineering personnel to work in Ireland. One suggestion for improving matters comes from ISME, which wants the Government to introduce a onceoff incentive plan to encourage emigrant Irish engineers and other skilled personnel to return home. Frank Mulcahy of ISME says that a similar scheme was used nearly 20 years ago, but that if an updated version is brought in again, it should be confined to Forbairt-supported companies, since multinationals are already heavily poaching staff from indigenous companies.

Adrian McGennis, group manager at Marlborough, a leading recruitment specialist, says that there has been a huge jump in demand for engineering and other technical people. "There's been a very large increase in all areas. Quality control engineers are among the people very much needed".

Big multinational manufacturers, like Hewlett Packard (HP), IBM and Intel, are all looking for more engineering personnel, especially with HP at Leixlip and IBM at Blanchardstown just gearing up. The chemical and pharmaceutical industry is another sector with strong requirements for qualified, experienced engineers. In fact, there are few sectors in engineering that don't have good demand for experienced, qualified staff right now.