Skills Shortages Have Direct Effect on Productivity In The Manufacturing and Engineering Sectors

Phil Black - PII Editor 09/09/2014

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A recent survey conducted by Festo Training and Consulting, in conjunction with Works Management, shows that skills shortages are having a direct effect on productivity within the manufacturing and engineering sector.

61% said that skills shortages have affected productivity and 25% of these say it is a frequent occurrence. This is up 17% from a similar survey carried out last year.

Some respondents cited restricted growth due to recruitment slowdown, poor efficiencies and excessive downtime due to lack of fault-finding skills. One respondent said that in the last year back orders had increased from £36k to £280k, perhaps a sign of growth in the order book, but also a sign that manufacturers are struggling to keep up with growth in the economy.

The skills shortage within this sector shows little sign of abating. 82% of companies are suffering a skills shortage, up 7% on last year, and 86% say this is likely to stay the same or get worse.

The shortage is most prevalent for experienced engineers (61%), skilled shop floor workers (57%) and multi-skilled engineers (40%). The biggest rise is in a shortfall of experienced engineers, which has increased by 44% since last year.

The lack of skilled staff has also had a knock-on effect on morale, with 62% stating that morale is the biggest issue in the workplace, followed by employee engagement (53%).

Perhaps those most affected by skills shortages and low morale are middle managers, who are having to roll their sleeves up to support under-staffed areas and who are also spending half of their time with disengaged employees. It is perhaps unsurprising then that the main stress on the workforce appears to be due to inadequate resources (25%) and too many demands on their time (24%).

25% are looking to leave their job this year and although on the face of it, this number seems relatively small, the loss of 25% of any organisation”s workforce can have a considerable impact on what is already an over-stretched sector. The reasons most cited for a change in job is for new opportunities, promotion or increased remuneration, although 15% said that they would leave because they don”t like their boss.

There is some good news for those in manufacturing and engineering. 42% of respondents said that they generally have a good to excellent work-life balance, indicating that although our engineers work hard, many still manage to find time to switch off to enjoy their home-life and leisure pursuits.

Key findings from the survey:

82% of companies surveyed are suffering a skills shortage, up 7% on last year
86% say this is likely to stay the same of get worse
61% experience some reduced profitability as a result of skills shortages, up 44% from last year
Maintaining morale is the biggest issue in the workplace (62%)
43% of companies have a formal management training programme
29% of managers learn on the job
34% have experienced stress due to workplace conflict
25% say that their biggest stress is due to inadequate resources
25% are looking to leave their job in the next year and 15% say they would leave because they don”t like their boss.

The People and Productivity survey took into account responses from 102 people within the engineering and manufacturing sector, the majority of which were at senior manager level and above.