Industry & workforce

Engineering shapes the world we live in and makes a vital contribution to society and the economy. The engineering sector generates significant employment, and engineers and technicians are employed across the economy on other non-engineering sectors.

Our research looks at the composition of the engineering workforce, including breakdown by characteristics including age, gender and ethnicity. We analyse employment by region, industry and occupation and look at the engineering in the context of the broader UK economy.

We look at employment and salary trends. Drawing on industry and educational insights, we analyse both the projected demand from industry and the supply through educational pathways. In October 2022, we published research into T Levels, highlighting the challenges we need to overcome to secure the 43,500 industry placements needed by 2024/25.

We look at the impact of external factors (for example, the Covid-19 pandemic) as well as identifying considerations for policymakers in consultations around issues such as levelling up.

The latest workforce analysis was published in July 2022. Much of this area of analysis was previously included in 'Engineering UK: The State of Engineering', available in our research archive.