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Skills shortages, particularly in industries that require engineering, can lead to longer project timelines, higher project costs and lower national productivity. Knowing how we got here in the first place is an important first step in addressing these looming challenges.    

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The growing demand for engineering skills comes at a moment in time when Australia has a huge infrastructure pipeline and a growing interest in time-critical ventures like the transition to net zero. Yet the skills shortage has never been more prevalent. Here are some of the factors that define the current situation:

Covid-19 Pandemic

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Covid-19 and the subsequent closure of international borders and an almost all-out halt of skilled migrants arriving in Australia have played a massive part in driving this shortage. But there's a lot more going on than just that. According to Engineers Australia's 'Strengthening the Engineering Workforce' report, there exist 'structural and systemic reasons that explain why the engineering workforce supply channels are not keeping pace with demand.' The National Skills Commission predicts that occupations in STEM will increase by 13% over five years as Australia's domestic supply of trained engineers continues to decline persistently [2]. 

A decrease in commencements within tertiary engineering degrees compounded with only 25% of engineering students completing their degrees on time and only 50% of commencing engineering students even graduating with an engineering degree are all the ingredients for a chronic skills shortage problem. This is not only the case in Australia; the US and the UK are also experiencing an increase in demand for engineers as they produce relatively low levels of engineers compared to other OECD countries.

Closed borders and net negative migration to Australia because of the pandemic was a heavy blow to Australia's skills supply channel, but it is only partly to blame. In fact, the impacts of the pandemic only exposed a skills issue that was already prevalent.

Boundaries for skilled migrants

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58% of the engineering workforce in Australia is born overseas, an indicator that Australia has faced persistent and long-term domestic supply challenges. The logical next step would be to increase the number of skilled migrant engineers. Yet only 40% of skilled migrant engineers in Australia are employed in an engineering role, indicating a serious lack of support for overseas workers to find work in Australia that is congruent with their experience and qualifications [1]. 

Research has shown that even when overseas-born engineers find work in the industry, they are often in roles that are not 'not commensurate with their skill or experience level' [1]. Migrants face many boundaries, from a lack of local knowledge and experience to issues with working rights and visas, difficulties in addressing certification queries and a misconception of soft skills because of perceived cultural differences.

Domestic Supply

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A consistent reliance on skilled migrant workers tells us that Australia is facing a domestic supply challenge. Australia is the third lowest producer of engineers as a proportion of all graduates in the OECD. There has been a sizable decline in the number of young Australians choosing to study tertiary engineering degrees. Adding insult to injury, the Australian Mathematics Sciences Institute (AMSI) has reported that the number of Australian school students choosing to study intermediate and higher-level mathematics and other engineering prerequisites is at an all-time low. 

Even those that graduate with a tertiary qualification in engineering, only around 60% continue to work in that profession. So, the engineering skills shortage will probably worsen before it gets better. And it will require long-term commitment, collaboration and action by the government, industries and the education sector.

Representation 

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Another key issue is representation. While the engineering professions are the biggest employer of the STEM disciplines, it has the smallest female representation. 16% of engineering students are female, 13% of qualified engineers in Australia are female, and only 11.2% of the engineering workforce is female [1]. These statistics are telling of the inadequate efforts to make engineering an appealing vocation for all. Even worse, it's indicative of an inability to retain and nurture talent.

According to Engineers Australia, there is a significant lack of positive perceptions about the engineering profession; it's consistently seen as being 'too hard or male-dominated. Further, a major barrier to encouraging students from studying engineering or being retained as professionals are a result of non-inclusive work cultures and inequalities when it comes to opportunity, with over 2/3 of female engineers reporting to have left their engineering roles as a result of this.

According to a recent survey of women outside the engineering profession, over 90% said they didn't even consider engineering or barely even considered it. The most cited reasons were the fact that there was a lack of awareness of what the profession is and what engineers do. It's clear engineering has a severe PR issue. Increasing awareness of engineering as a fulfilling and impactful career choice among students and the teachers and parents that influence them should be a major focal point to encourage equal participation in the profession, boost and empower the role of women and alleviate the skills shortage.