New Senior Appointment At Ten Live Engineering – Kieran O’Connor

Posted 10th June 2019 by Marie McBeth & filed under Engineering.

At a time when demand for engineering skills is at an all-time high in the UK, we’re delighted to appoint engineering recruitment expert Kieran O’Connor to head up Ten Live’s engineering division to oversee future development and growth.

For the past 7 years Kieran has been responsible for developing and managing an enviable client base of leading local, UK and international engineering clients in his previous roles as engineering & technical recruitment director and as head of engineering recruitment. In addition, Kieran has a wealth of experience as a sales director responsible for the growth, training and development of new staff.

Kieran’s success, recruiting for leading and worldwide client accounts, is testament to his incredible work ethic, his total commitment to candidate and client satisfaction and his in-depth understanding of complex sectors within the engineering industry such as Facilities Management, M&E Building Services, Precision Engineering and Manufacturing.

Gary Telfer, director at Ten Live Group said; “It is a very challenging landscape for engineering companies operating in the UK at the present time, even more so with the ongoing uncertainties of Brexit. We want to build on our reputation as one of the top independent recruiters in engineering in Scotland, across the UK and internationally, but also forge new relationships and support engineering businesses as they look to fill their skills gaps across all disciplines.

Kieran’s impressive engineering recruitment CV combined with Ten Live’s expertise at targeting and successfully recruiting passive candidates via our global reach and access to a network of top international engineering candidates means we are extremely well-placed to supply engineering companies in the UK with the very best candidates, ensuring our clients are the No.1 in their field for engaging Top Talent”.

Q&A with Kieran

Where Do You See Growth in Engineering In The UK & Scotland?

Kieran: “We know engineering is hugely important to the UK economy. Around a third of UK businesses are engineering-related, employing 7.5m employees, around 19% of total UK employment and that it generates around a quarter of UK GDP. The sector also has an ‘accelerator effect’ on the UK economy as every time a new job is created in engineering 1.7 jobs are created elsewhere in the UK economy.

In Scotland, the engineering industry did well in the first quarter of this year (2019) with output volume continuing to increase and all sectors being positive, particularly amongst non-metal products and metal manufacturing companies, although order intake was down slightly on the last quarter of 2018.

Export orders and output volume for Scottish engineering are forecast to pick up slightly for the next 3 months, with mechanical equipment forecasting that Q2 will be better than Q1 2019. SME Scottish machine shops, mechanical engineering companies plan to increase the no. employees in Q2 2019”.

Q: What’s The Biggest Challenge Facing UK & Scottish Engineering Companies?

Kieran: “I would say skills shortages still top the list in 2019. The industry trade body, Engineering UK estimates that the UK economy will need 124,000 skilled engineers to meet current demand and a further 79,000 engineers to meet demand from new industries and technologies meaning we’ll need 203,000 engineers annually up to 2022/2024.

Over the past few years I’ve seen the UK recruitment and jobs markets change due to the skills shortages and increased demand of skilled and highly sought after engineers. I would say that the market is now 100% candidate-driven due to this skills shortage.

We know there’s an annual shortfall of 59,000 engineers, so it’s no surprise that a huge number of engineering employers are reporting recruitment difficulties.

Also, the engineering industry historically has a low unemployment rate, an ageing workforce and is now having to compete for STEM candidates with other industries. The situation is also now being exacerbated by decreasing migration and EU workers leaving the UK due to Brexit.

Q: Where Are The Greatest Skills Shortages In Engineering Currently?

Kieran: “In May 2019 we noted engineering skills in short supply were civil engineers, design and development engineers, electrical engineers, electronics engineers, electrical/electronic trades, mechanical engineers, production and process engineers, quality control and planning engineers”.

Q. How Do You See UK & Scottish Engineering Companies Solving Their Skills Shortages?

Kieran: “That’s what’s called the million dollar question!

If we look at May 2019, companies are still recruiting, although hiring has slowed slightly. The availability of skilled employees remains the barrier to hiring. In May our industry body, the REC, reported that engineering & technical topped the skills shortages list of all skills shortages.

We know that a lot of progress has already been made to tackle this, but more still needs to be done to focus on STEM education and STEM teacher training and to improve access for women in engineering.

Brexit is also already impacting the availability of engineering workers from the EU across the UK. Scottish Engineering is lobbying the UK Government to look again at the content of their immigration policy proposal to take into account the differing needs of Scotland within the UK. We will need to see how Brexit negotiations unfold over the next few months and what impacts.

Scottish Engineering has just at the end of May released some stats which shows that almost half of Scottish engineering firms plan to boost their number of the 3 types of apprenticeships (modern, foundation and graduate) amid concerns over the availability of skilled employees over the next three to five years, with modern apprenticeships, with more than 43% of companies indicating plans for increased uptake of Modern Apprenticeships and Foundation and Graduate streams increases of 16% and 21%. More needs to be done to improving companies’ understanding of apprenticeships and their role in increasing talent in the profession and companies need to improve the quality of the apprenticeships they offer.

Q. How Can Ten Live Help Engineering Employers Solve Their Skills Shortages?

Kieran: “Due to the shortage of skilled professionals, this has created a huge demand in the market for engineers across a variety of skills including CNC/Machine Shop personnel, Commercial Gas, Electrical and Mechanical to name but a few. With such demand, engineers have now identified that they are now in the driving seat so to speak in terms of negotiating better deals of their contracts etc. which in turn drives better terms, increased salaries and a more flexible approach to work/life balance which is key.

I’ve found that employers are now having to address such demands in order to retain key members of their business so they do not jump ship to a competitor.

I think that employers should be willing to identify and address the shortage of skilled professionals head on and work with recruiters such as Ten Live to put our heads together and work in partnership to be able to retain, source, identify and recruit skilled engineers for their business.

After all, our clients may be experts in maintaining the most prestigious of buildings and facilities or machining very intricate components to supply to the global oil industry and here at Ten Live we are experts in the engineering recruitment and jobs market in the UK and internationally. It makes sense that many companies are turning to recruitment agencies for contract /temporary workers, but also for assistance in finding ‘passive’ engineering candidates or from abroad”.