Category: Contractor Industry News

Some 500,000 extra engineers will be needed to satisfy the global appetite for energy in the next two decades, according to one industry expert.

Trillions of dollars will need to be spent in the sector to enhance technology and attract the brightest graduates, said Martin Grant of UK engineering and design consultancy Atkins, in an article for Channel 4 News.

Expenditure will be largely focused on complex facilities like nuclear power stations, offshore wind farms and large-scale grid upgrade, he explained.

"This will require a high degree of engineering competence to ensure the facilities are built on time, to budget and more importantly they operate safely and reliably."

Around 15,000 engineering experts will be needed in the UK alone, he added, as a result of the aging energy infrastructure and ambitious carbon reduction plans.

However, finding these engineering experts is likely to pose problems, as Russell Dalglish, managing director at global technical resourcing provider Talascend, told Recruiter that lower numbers of young adults have entered the sector in the past two decades.

Posted by John Crawley