As part of Subsea UK’s ongoing engagement programme to attract young people into the sector, engineering students were given a slice of subsea action at a pizza evening held to highlight the industry’s career opportunities.
More than 70 students showed their interest in the subsea sector at the learning event which was held at Robert Gordon University.
Speakers from a range of subsea companies highlighted the opportunities for graduates within the subsea sector as well as giving advice and help arranging site visits for students to learn first-hand about what the industry has to offer.
Neil Gordon, chief executive of Subsea UK, said: “Meaningful collaboration between industry and academia is essential in the drive to train and mentor qualified people, and address the skills shortage that the subsea sector is currently facing.
“Facilitating learning evenings like these is a tangible way of interacting with students and informing them on the wide and diversified opportunities for them within the sector.”
Subsea UK’s RGU event is one in a series which complements its overarching skills agenda of attracting skilled people into the subsea industry; from students to professionals in other sectors.
This includes working with universities throughout the UK to outline the subsea industry and reveal the career options open to students, developing a number of initiatives to work with schools and teaming up with Inside Industry to create a careers tool which promotes the subsea sector career opportunities available to school and college students.
The subsea industry now generates about £6billion in annual revenues and employs 50,000 people, as one of the fastest-growing and exciting industry sectors in the UK with the potential for further growth there are significant employment opportunities available with the capability to generate more wealth and sustainable jobs across the UK.
A recently-held flagship recruitment event for military personnel, which was held in Moray in conjunction with Kinloss Skills Partnership, provided the opportunity for those looking for a career change to learn of the long-term and diverse career opportunities in the fast-growing subsea sector.
More than 90 people attended the event when five subsea companies showcased the full spectrum of the sector’s strength, both locally and internationally, as well as outlining the valuable, transferable skills that military personnel possess.
Of the event Mr Gordon said: “Former military personnel have strong skill sets which match very well with, and can be transferred into, the subsea industry. This event only served to underpin the great wealth of experience within the military which allows a natural transition into the subsea industry.”
Mr Gordon added: “Attracting, retaining and developing the right skills to support the rapid growth of the industry has always been a challenge, the subsea industry must ensure it has a sustainable workforce supply and Subsea UK is focussing its efforts on capturing the imagination of these skilled professionals and students and encouraging them into a sector which has a plentiful supply of opportunities.
“Skills and training must continue to be a priority. There is no room for complacency as we will need even more skilled resources in years to come as we strive to meet growing global demand and even more complex technological challenges. We are seeing encouraging numbers of graduates and apprentices coming in to the industry through focused initiatives, but you cannot fast-track experience and transferring skilled professionals from other sectors into our workforce is one way of addressing the short-term problem.”
All of the main engineering disciplines are required in the subsea industry and with the sector’s projected growth, thousands of career opportunities are anticipated in the near future.
Subsea UK will be holding a series of events in the coming months across the UK from student nights to job fairs aimed at attracting skilled people into the industry.
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