Employer Demand

 

Elutec is situated in the heart of the Thames Gateway which stretches along the Thames Estuary from London Docklands to Southend in Essex and Sheerness in Kent. The Thames Gateway is home to 3,275 manufacturing businesses including a wide range of large manufacturers such as Alcatel – Lucent, Coca-Cola, Honeywell and Tate & Lyle.

In addition, the Port of London handles over 45 million tonnes a year, making it the second largest port in the UK and one of the world’s leading ports for international shipping. This status will be significantly enhanced when London Gateway, the £1.5 billion development of the world’s most technically advanced container port and a major new logistics park, opens in December 2013. All of this makes the Thames Gateway a major employer of skilled technicians and engineers, and the provision and increased supply of a workforce with the right technical skills and attitudes is crucial to its success and growth.

However, the macroeconomic data and evidence from interviews and surveys conducted by Elutec indicate a serious and sustained shortage of technical skills in the region.

The National Employers Skills Survey 2009 and recent surveys undertaken by the sponsors show that there are significant skills shortages within the Thames Gateway region and over 25% of vacancies are due to technical skills shortages.

Clearly, there is significant demand for technical skills from employers in the region. There is also a keen interest in getting these skills from local young people.

“As Chairman of CEME, I am energised by the potential of the organisation to be a serious catalyst in the promotion of a re-balanced UK economy and I am extremely excited by the opportunity to deliver an exemplary UTC here in the London Thames Gateway.”
Martin Broadhurst, Chairman, CEME