MPs last week pledged their support to help combat the skills shortage in engineering by encouraging employers in their constituencies to work with schools to give young people opportunities for work experience.

The Institution of Engineering and Technology invited all 650 MPs to its parliamentary reception in the Churchill Room in the House of Commons. There, they were invited to program and control a Lego robot and learn more about the findings of the IET’s Engineering and Technology Skills and Demand in Industry survey.

IET chief executive Nigel Fine (pictured right with UK Skills Minister Nick Boles MP) said: “The demand for engineers in the UK remains high. We need 87,000 new engineers each year for the next decade, so there is a critical need to do more to promote engineering as an appealing career choice to young people.

“It is encouraging to see from our survey that over half of engineering employers recognise the crucial role they have to play here, as well as in helping to shape the curriculum so that young people enter the world of work with the skills that employers want.

“MPs are ideally placed to help us capitalise on this opportunity, by helping to get more employers involved with the education system at a local level, so that we produce a talent pipeline that can sustain a thriving UK economy.”

Skills Minister Nick Boles said: “A guaranteed supply of skilled engineers is essential if UK engineering is to compete on the world stage. We are committed to developing the engineering workforce of the future.”