Salaries remain an incentive to enter the engineering field in the U.K., promising higher earnings and more opportunities to advance, according to an article from The Engineer. The conclusions are based on a new report from the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), which details potential rewards as well as the challenges facing the industry’s workforce.
The average engineer’s income exceeded £42,000 in 2016, 49% higher than the average earnings in the U.K., and engineering graduates earned £5,000 more than the average salary for graduates, according to the ECITB report. Despite a demand for engineers, graduation unemployment among 2015/16 engineering graduates was six percent, compared to five percent for all graduates six months after completing their education, according to the article. Employer feedback reportedly suggests the content of STEM education, and a lack of workplace experience and soft skills, are reasons why some newly-minted engineers fail to land jobs. The report also includes key findings regarding women and diversity in engineering.
Read more from the report here.
