ERS Hub issues grassroots rallying call as it looks to young people to fill the 100,000 + electrification jobs void
ELECTRICAL & ELECTRONICS THE NEXT GENERATION
ERS HUB
ERS Hub issues grassroots rallying call as it looks to young people to fill the 100,000 + electrification jobs void
Engaging and boosting inclusivity at grassroots level with young people is going to be essential if the UK is going to fill the hundreds of thousands of expected job opportunities in electrification .
That ’ s the rallying call from Coventry University ’ s Deepak Farmah , who is currently helping to connect the emerging community through the Electric Revolution Skills Hub ( ERS Hub ), an integrated digital platform for providing inclusive access to training , development , and jobs in an electrified and greener future .
The Commercial Director for ERS Hub believes his team has made significant headway in creating an intuitive platform that has brought together education , training providers , employers and the future workforce all in one place , and with clear routes to courses and jobs .
However , he also feels that the big challenge now is to reach out to young people at primary and secondary schools , colleges and hard-to-reach youth groups to get them excited about the world of electrification as a diverse and inclusive sector .
“ It is still a fledgling industry . The career paths and the type of jobs available are difficult enough to understand for adults , let alone young people trying to work out what the future holds ,” explained Deepak .
“ In a Gigafactory alone there are more than17 different roles you can aspire to , whilst in PEMD there are up to 80 knowledge profiles ,
ProtoEV ERS Award : The ERS Hub team with one of the winning teams at ProtoEV
We want to start conversations with youngsters from different backgrounds , who may not have access to mainstream career advice or opportunities .
ranging from motor engineer and design lead through to testing and validation . Our role is about showcasing these and demystifying how you get there .”
He continued : We ’ ve already started this work , with the aim of engaging with tens of thousands of pupils and hundreds of schools and groups already , but this is just the beginning .
“ Our experts have been attending career fairs , industry events , launching podcasts and providing curiosity boxes to educational establishments . These are a great way to start the conversation and encourage young people to build a motor from scratch following a simple lesson plan that can be delivered by any teacher – not just a STEM one .”
The ERS Hub , which is co-funded by Coventry University and UKRI , is keen to support more STEM related activities at grassroots levels and recently threw its weight behind ProtoEV , the ultimate motorsport competition for schools , colleges , youth clubs and apprentices in the UK .
Organised by the Blair Project , five youth teams from South London spent twelve weeks of tireless work and testing to retrofit a fully electric e-kart , before putting it
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