Engineer numbers on the rise26 February 2014

The downward trend in the total number of professionally registered engineers and technicians has reversed, according to the Engineering Council.

The number of individuals on the national register of engineering technicians (EngTech), incorporated engineers (IEng), chartered engineers (CEng) and ICT technicians (ICTTech) has increased for the first time since 2001.

Engineering Council ceo Jon Prichard said: "This is a welcome outcome for UK engineering. Maintaining high professional standards is key to the delivery of value to the economy."

He added: "With almost 40% of professionally registered engineers and technicians currently listed on the register now over 60 years of age, and another 13% falling into the 55-59 year age bracket, it is vital that we ensure a strong pipeline of highly skilled men and women to replace these registrants as they reach retirement."

The number of individuals achieving professional registration has risen by 93% over the figure for 2007.

Prichard said: "Now we have reached this important milestone in terms of stemming the net outflow of skilled professionals, it is vital that we continue to focus attention on raising awareness of the value of professional registration for engineers and technicians.

"We are, therefore, working closely with the professional engineering institutions to address this, in particular for technicians where we have highlighted the greatest skills gap to be filled, and I hope to be able to report further good news this time next year."

Meanwhile, the number of females becoming professionally registered continues to rise gradually, with a healthy increase of 28% in new female registrations compared to 2012 numbers. However, females still only represent 4% of the total and it is clear that there is still a lot to be done to attract more women into the profession.

Ian Vallely

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