STEM talent partner, Matchtech and The Engineer has recently conducted a survey to determine ‘What Makes a Top Employer’. The aim of the survey was to determine what it is candidates are looking for from their employers, in their view – what makes a top engineering employer? What benefits and qualities do they look for when searching for a new job? And What factors would prompt them to consider moving to another company?
With skilled engineers in huge demand across all sectors of industry, companies are having to work doubly hard to attract top talent. By completing this survey, we hope to feed into our coverage of this important topic and help industry recruiters better understand the expectations of the engineering job seeker.
The findings of the survey have shown that employers need to be aware of the concerning extent to which engineers are considering leaving the profession.
Looking five years out, 10% are certain that they will quit (half planning to retire) with a further 20% uncertain as to whether they will stay in an engineering role – the latter cohort spanning all age groups.
Do you think that you will stay in an engineering role for the next 5 years? Or are you unsure?

With the professional potentially haemorrhaging workers, this will further compound the issues of low take-up of young people in engineering / STEM skills (notably amongst women), heightening the skills gap and talent shortages – albeit numbers are improving. And whilst the number of women moving beyond academia into the UK engineering workforce has also increased – with their proportional representation rising from 13.1% in 2019 to 16.5% in 2021, there is still a huge need to drive greater participation.