UK Power Networks relaunches graduate scheme after five-year hiatus

UK Power Networks has relaunched its graduate scheme, selecting 11 new engineers from over 4,400 applicants to address the growing skills shortage within the UK electrical engineering sector. 

This marks the first such initiative by the company in over five years, aiming to replenish the industry's workforce as it gears up for the increasing reliance on low-carbon technologies like electric vehicles and heat pumps.

The selected graduates will engage in a two-year training programme across various locations including Crawley, Maidstone, Stevenage, and London. Their roles will span innovation, design, and operations within the firm’s Distribution System Operator. This initiative comes at a time when engineering roles are critically needed yet remain some of the hardest positions to fill, with many graduates opting for careers in finance, data, and IT instead.

According to Engineering UK, the engineering and technology sectors are expected to grow rapidly, outpacing other professions in all UK regions through to 2030. The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) highlights a current shortfall of 173,000 workers in the STEM fields, costing the economy an estimated £1.5 billion annually.

Alex Rama, a 21-year-old graduate from Royal Holloway University, has been appointed as a field engineer. Rama, originally from Hanworth in Norfolk, expressed his enthusiasm for his new role, stating, “This is a dream job for me, I’m extremely grateful and lucky to be selected.” He will be based out of the Bidder Street depot in East London and is motivated by the significant positive impact his work will have on the community and the city.

Barry Hatton, Director of Asset Management at UK Power Networks and a veteran with a 43-year career, praised the quality of the new recruits. “It’s great to see talent coming into the business to help us address the challenges of facilitating the delivery of the low carbon transition for our customers," he remarked.

Stephanie Baxter, Head of Policy at the IET, also commented on the importance of such graduate schemes, “Graduate schemes like this are a great step towards plugging the nation’s STEM skills gap and ensuring the next generation are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to engineer a better world for us all.

“Many people still don’t understand the work of engineers or appreciate how much society depends on their skills and innovation. This is why the UK is not going to have enough engineers in the next decade, so it is vital that we attract lots of new people from different backgrounds. In order to ensure we have the right mix of engineering skills; we need to provide more opportunities for young people to develop their skill sets starting in schools and continuing throughout their education and into the workplace.”