Power outages highlight specialist engineering skills gap

In light of the latest power outage across the UK, specialist energy recruiter, Samuel Knight International, has highlighted the growing sense of urgency to address the skills gap across electrical engineering and remote outage.

Following news that 40,000 homes in Oxfordshire faced power cuts as a result of the demolition of the Didcot power station, the firm has stressed the need for employers and local authorities alike to increase collaboration efforts to drive more people into a STEM career.

Joshua Bayliss, divisional manager for power generation at Samuel Knight International commented, “This latest incident is just one of many reports of power outages across the UK, with thousands of homes and businesses being affected by these incidents on a regular basis. While this is undoubtedly the season for such outages, there’s no doubt that the number of these reports is growing year on year. The key concern that this highlights is the severe shortage of resources to handle remote outage emergencies such as this.

“To truly highlight the extent of the situation, of the 16 engineering roles listed on the 2019 Shortage Occupation List, three were key electrical roles, with multiple others identified that have a part to play in remote outage situations. It’s no secret that there’s a STEM skills shortage across the UK, but the fact that we are beginning to feel the impact of this lack of resources on such a large scale suggests current efforts need to be kicked up a gear.”