For anyone who has worked across civil engineering over the last few years, the title of this article won’t come as news. So, why are we still having this conversation in 2017?
Over the past 12 months, the team at Peopleconnexion Recruitment have witnessed the flow-on effects of funding commitments across Queensland, finally filling gaps in our much-needed public infrastructure. As the gap between our state’s present and future narrows, another widens ? this time between the skill sets we have now and those we need in order to complete these projects.
We have seen the engineering skills gap be dismissed in the media as an attempt to explain unemployment figures and the result of unrealistic employer expectations ? but in our experience, this simply isn’t the case. As demand for public infrastructure increases, civil engineering professionals not only need to see projects through from their conception to their completion, but are also increasingly acting as advocates for forward planning and advisors to government departments. A high level of technical expertise and experience is required to fulfil these responsibilities, and organisations are struggling to constantly find professionals who fit the brief.
Why should we take this seriously?
The statistics aren’t promising. Reports by the Department of Employment classify almost 42 per cent of civil engineering applicants as underqualified for the positions they apply for, with 86 per cent of those who were qualified as unsuitable due to a lack of technical skills or relevant project experience.
As a recruitment agency, we see a broader view of how a lack of technical skills not only impacts individual project teams, but entire consultancies and the infrastructure that they are responsible for delivering.
While skills gaps widen in organisations, the rate of decision making slows and leaves the door open for costly mistakes to be made. This poses the question: are we ensuring that we have adequate skills for approved projects?
In recent years, organisations have sought short term solutions to fill gaps, taking on highly skilled contractors and temporary migrant workers rather than looking across similar sectors locally. While these solutions have been enough to pull projects over the line, some have been pursued at the cost of succession planning and rigorous
internal training programs.
When key staff members leave, they take their expertise and the project’s fluidity with them, and this is when costly mistakes can be made or progress can come to a grinding halt. After all, a project is only as strong as its team.
Which skills are in short supply?
Developing project management skills might be the traditional first port of call in accelerating professional development, but it is technical skills and multidisciplinary experience that are in short supply. A lack of consistency in common engineering software skills and design packages is still holding teams back, and is complicating collaborative approaches to infrastructure design and construction.
In the past year, Peopleconnexion consultants have been approached to look for the same set of skills across the transportation sector, with a strong focus on specialty design experience or design software expertise, including 12D Designers, BIM experts, ITS and C-ITS expertise, and senior and intermediate civil and structural engineers with road, rail or metro experience.
Capabilities in transport modelling and rail signalling are also in high demand, including knowledge of ETCS (European Train Control Systems) and previous project-specific experience.
While it’s tempting to turn to the younger generation to champion technology-based skill sets, university curriculums are still misaligned with the industry’s rapidly evolving needs, meaning that young graduates are still not fully equipped with the skill sets they require. The Department of Employment reported that while junior or graduate civil engineer positions received 100 applications on average, there were only three suitable applicants per vacancy. Compounding this issue are the effects of declining enrolments in engineering degrees and fewer high school students studying STEM based subjects.
Delivering the future
Put simply, there is no quick-fix solution.
Beyond just advancing employees? project management capabilities, technical skill sets and expertise spanning multiple disciplines must be encouraged. Of course, this is easier said than done.
One of the first steps we can take to bridging the gap is placing a focus on long-term strategic hiring and looking further afield for the right team to get the job done. Queensland still has a wealth of engineering talent available in similar sectors ? is it finally time to start utilising those transferrable skills?
By placing value on multidisciplinary experience, consultancies can build diverse teams that frame challenges differently and create innovative solutions. Software-based skills or technical expertise can always be encouraged through studio training and mentorship, but finding those who can adapt and apply their experiences in new scenarios is far more challenging.
As funding commitments trickle down and projects get the green light, it is time to start preparing by identifying the areas in our teams that are in need of improvement. From here, we can focus on new ways to find, develop and
retain the engineers delivering the foundations of Queensland’s future.