In an effort to persuade young people that manufacturing can provide worthwhile careers, they are this month being offered a behind the scenes glimpse of what it’s like to work in the industry as companies throw open their doors to students and graduates.
A national programme of initiatives under the government’s Inside Manufacturing programme will see automotive companies like Aston Martin, Bentley, Ford, GKN Driveline, Jaguar Land Rover, Leyland Trucks, Millbrook and Nissan offering to inspire a new generation of budding engineers.
Launched back in March by Business Secretary Vince Cable (pictured at Bentley’s Crewe factory), Inside Manufacturing aims to challenge perceptions that the UK has an outdated manufacturing sector and encourage more young people to take up Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects, in order to boost the UK’s skills base.
“For too many young people the word manufacturing is a turn off,” said Vince Cable. “A worrying poll out last week found that only one out of ten children aged 11 to 14 thought that engineering was an important job and even ranked being a politician as a better choice of career! We are determined to shake up old fashioned views of manufacturing and … give young people the chance to see the exciting face of modern manufacturing, which is highly skilled, high tech and highly paid.”
This material is protected by copyright Ken Hurst 2011.
