BAE Helps Bridge Future Skills Gap as Graduates Shun Science
BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s largest defense company, is looking to help bridge gaps in U.K. skills as the country may face a looming shortage of workers with training in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
While the company’s apprenticeship plan is oversubscribed, there may not be enough job-seekers with the needed skills in the future, Nigel Whitehead, BAE’s managing director of programs and support, said in a presentation in London today.
“If you look at the number of people coming through science, technology, engineering and mathematics subjects at university, there’s probably not enough to actually meet the needs of the economy in the long term,” Whitehead said. “We are concerned that there will be skills gaps and as a large company we’ve tried to fill those gaps.”
BAE has as many as 1,000 employees on its apprenticeship plan in the U.K., according to its website. It recruits about 300 per year at locations from Portsmouth to Glasgow. The company accepts apprentices to train for roles such as electrician, designer and welder at businesses from ship building to warplane making.
The U.K. Commission for Employment and Skills said in a 2010 report the proportion of undergraduates taking science, technology, engineering and mathematics-related courses is declining.
The company is “picking the very best” applicants for its recruitment programs, Whitehead said. “I wouldn’t say there’s a drop-off in skills. If anything, it’s going the other way.”
Security restrictions mean that British nationals are needed to work on certain projects, he said, making it difficult to draw workers with the required skills from abroad.
If skilled people aren’t found in the future, the London- based company could ultimately build more sites abroad, BAE Chief Executive Officer Ian King said at today’s event.
“I think what we could do is allocate our resources of capital to other markets if we found there was a restriction on our ability to get skills in the U.K.” said King. “We are a global company and we allocate capital as appropriate to the market.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Howard Mustoe in London at hmustoe@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net
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