RECRUITMENT
Bright future – Westray Recruitment Group technical and engineering manager Tony Hutchinson says it ’ s an exciting time for Teesside , despite recruitment and skills challenges .
MIND THE GAP
‘ We must grow our own engineers through apprenticeships ’, says recruitment chief
PICTURE : TOM BANKS WORDS : PHILIP TALLENTIRE
Tony Hutchinson , Westray Recruitment Group ’ s technical and engineering manager , tells Tees Business why it ’ s crucial that the region bridges the skills gap and explains what ’ s being done to achieve that aim …
Tees Business : It seems to be an exciting time to be working in engineering in the North-East ? Tony Hutchinson : Teesside is booming at the moment . We have all seen the muchpublicised influx of investment and jobs within the expansion of Teesworks , the ports themselves , Teesside Airport , the rise in green energy – plus the continued successes of traditional industries within the region , such as chemical processing , general manufacturing , engineering and fabrication businesses . This is truly an exciting time for Teesside .
TB : Westray and Teesside are both thriving , but what challenges lie ahead ? TH : This rapid expansion and influx of jobs is not without challenge , especially within the skilled engineering sector , where the battle for talent is intense , to enable plans to materialise and net zero targets to be achieved .
Candidate attraction and worker retention is fundamental for companies competing in this space . It is a candidate ’ s market out there and so businesses need to hone their service offering to potential employees by helping to manage their careers , by providing training and development opportunities and by offering career pathways .
Due to the skills shortage , wages have naturally been driven up so , to gain that competitive edge , businesses need to work on developing their full service offering to candidates .
TB : As a hugely successful recruitment agency , Westray is no doubt playing a key role helping businesses bridge the engineering skills gap ? TH : As a recruitment company we have to be an advocate for the region and all the positive things that are happening here . Teesside is growing , everyone is so buoyant , but we must acknowledge that there are a lot of exciting plans in the pipeline and engineers are scarce !
We know times can be tough at the moment but there are things we can do to help people . I ’ m in my 13th year with Westray and , since day one , engineers have been in short supply . I go to seminars and meetings and the same topics come up time and again . The focus is always on where are we going to get the engineers from ? The solution goes back to increasing apprenticeships and retraining .
TB : What more can businesses do to help Teesside continue to thrive ? TH : To realise and materialise the ambitions of Teesside as a whole ,
For more information about Westray Recruitment Group and its services , visit westrayrecruitment . co . uk
everyone must play their part . We will no doubt see a rise in transient engineers moving to our region but we must continue to grow our own in the North- East through apprenticeships .
We must also look to engage with school pupils at an early age to get them interested in engineering . In addition , we must help people retrain and / or develop existing competencies . We must look to think outside the box regarding transferable skill sets and we must engage with talent partners and recruiters to help attract staff .
At the other end of the scale , organisations need to be looking at succession . We have an ageing workforce , so it is vitally important for businesses to share and retain skills so that the benefits of that experience are not lost . It is about capturing and sharing knowledge .
TB : What options do potential candidates have to take advantage of training opportunities ? TH : We are lucky to have many fabulous specialist training organisations , colleges , universities , apprenticeship programmes and recruitment companies in our region to help us realise our ambitions .
All in all , this is a great time for Teesside and we should be enthused by the challenges that lie ahead .
The voice of business in the Tees region | 105