Big change is coming to the transportation and highways sector. Decarbonisation, smart technologies, modern materials and electric mobility are all bringing new challenges – and countless new opportunities.

Plans for this brave new world could be derailed before they have even begun, however. For projects to succeed, staff need the specialist knowledge to see them through to fruition, but a new survey has revealed widespread concern about the industry’s capabilities.

According to the exclusive survey by the CIHT, Transportation Professional and T&RS Consultancy, the skills shortage is by far the biggest challenge facing the workforce in the next three years, picked by three-quarters (74.4%) of the respondents. Almost half (48.7%) said an ageing workforce is one of the biggest challenges, as experienced staff reach retirement age and take a wealth of expertise with them.

Others highlighted issues including high staff turnover, low salaries and the lure of better-paying industries or management positions. “Good engineers end up being managers, where their engineering expertise is largely being wasted,” said one respondent. “We’re constantly losing some of the best engineers to management positions, which are more highly paid.”

Learn at lunch

New workers alone will not ensure organisations can overcome the challenges of the future, however, so existing staff must also be trained up.

Thankfully, more than four-fifths (81.2%) of respondents said their employer supports staff to gain professional qualifications such as CEng or CTPP, with 35% supporting those who ask for it and 46.2% actively encouraging it. Internal and external training, online programmes, workshops and ‘learn at lunch’ seminars were just some of the options provided by proactive organisations.

Elsewhere, the COVID-19 pandemic and years of austerity have disrupted staff training, and one-tenth (10.3%) of respondents’ employers do not provide support.

Training “has been significantly lacking in recent years due to budget cuts and the pandemic,” one person wrote. “There is very little, if any, encouragement of formal learning opportunities. They do, however, have a good programme of in-house ‘lunch and learn’ style sessions, with presentations from departments across the organisation.”

There was little firm sentiment among individuals about how prepared their organisation is for the future skills needed by the industry, with a score of 2.93 on a scale of 1 to 5. There was slightly less confidence when respondents were asked the same question about industry overall (2.78 out of 5).

Cutting carbon

Net zero is fast approaching, with key government targets set for 2030, 2040 and 2050. By 2030, no new diesel or petrol cars will be sold and more than half of all journeys in towns and cities should be cycled or walked. Non-zero emission vehicles could be off the road by 2040, while electrification, batteries and hydrogen could enable a net zero rail network by 2050.

Four-fifths (80.3%) of respondents said they were aware of the decarbonisation targets. Those surveyed were not so confident they could be achieved, however, with an average rating of 2.6 out of 5. Worryingly, 14.9% of people said the targets were simply not achievable.

It was a similar story when asked about personal readiness to meet decarbonisation targets for industry (2.6 out of 5). More than half (55.3%) said their employer does not provide training on carbon management and decarbonisation.

Asked where they needed support, those surveyed were clear – 77% said technology was the most important area. Shared lessons learned was close behind (72.6%), then decarbonisation standards on 63.7%.

Stakeholders need to be given a wider perspective to ensure the success of sustainability goals, respondents said. “The main issue is convincing clients to fund the more expensive, lower embodied carbon products,” one person wrote. “If we can help them to understand carbon reduction as an ecosystem service and put a monetary value on decarbonisation, we may be able to influence them to choose the low-carbon options more often.”

Diverse workforce

Of those polled, 31.6% were concerned about a lack of diversity and genuine inclusion in the workforce. While most people agreed or strongly agreed that the highways and transport sector is a diverse and inclusive working environment (41.2%), the industry must make sure to maintain this if projects are to have the best chance of working for all of the population.

“A diverse workforce is one that has people who have many different experiences, whether that is through social upbringing, cultural and generational differences, different abilities and ways of thinking,” one respondent said. “An inclusive workforce is one that caters for everyone’s needs, no matter how ‘rare’.” A diversity of experiences and perspectives in the workforce is particularly important for ensuring that all road and transport users are considered, such as wheelchair users.

Of respondents’ employers, 69% actively support equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) efforts, but readers also highlighted areas where more could be done. Having high-profile, diverse role models can attract new employees from different backgrounds, as can successful outreach that communicates the breadth of roles involved in the sector and the cutting-edge technology involved.

Whether it’s to ensure a greener future or to create a more diverse workforce, it is clear we all have a responsibility to communicate the great opportunities and vital work done by the transportation and highways industries.

Tackling the industry’s image problem

If the industry is going to have a chance of delivering on its ambitious goals, it needs a steady stream of talented new recruits with detailed technical knowledge. However, on a scale of 1 (not effective) to 5 (very effective), respondents said the government is not effective at encouraging young professionals to enter the industry, giving it a 2.1 rating. No-one said it is very effective, but a quarter (24.8%) said it is not effective.

Respondents were slightly more positive about the sector’s own efforts (2.8 out of 5) but highlighted many issues holding back the free flow of new skilled workers. Salaries were a common complaint – “For as long as I have been in the construction industry, the best encouragement has always been financial,” one person said – but others said more outreach with schools is needed to attract students from different subject backgrounds.

For some, the problem was more fundamental. “The whole industry has an image problem,” one respondent wrote. “Reaching the young people in schools… is wasted effort when the overall public perception of engineering is flawed and biased. We need a radical makeover – continually harking back to the greats of the past (Brunel is so overused) won’t cut it any more!”

Social media could help modernise the image of engineering, another person suggested, such as highlighting the industry’s key role in ‘net zero’ efforts.

The big numbers

74.4%

of respondents said the skills shortage is by far the biggest challenge facing the workforce in the next three years

6%

were very confident that the transport labour market and skills consultation will have a positive impact on the industry. And 14.7% were not confident

69%

of respondents’ employers actively support equality, diversity and inclusion, with 34.5% either agreeing or strongly agreeing with that statement

48.7%

said an ageing workforce was one of the sector’s biggest challenges

31.6%

were concerned about a lack of diversity and genuine inclusion

2.1 out of 5

was how the government was rated in encouraging young professionals to enter the industry, with 1 being not effective and 5 very effective. Almost half (47.9%) picked 2. No-one said the government was very effective – but a quarter (24.8%) said it was not effective

38.5%

picked 3 out of 5 on the scale of how well industry is doing in encouraging people into the sector

29.3%

of respondents gave their organisation 3 out of 5 in being prepared for future skills needed by the industry, with the weighted score overall 2.93 out of 5

81.2%

of organisations support staff to gain professional qualifications such as CEng or CTPP, with 35% supporting those who ask for it and 46.2% actively encouraging it

41.2%

agreed or strongly agreed that the highways and transport sector is a diverse and inclusive environment, while 26.31% disagreed or strongly disagreed

80.3%

of respondents were aware of 2030/40/50 decarbonisation targets for transport

14.9%

of people said decarbonisation targets were simply not achievable

2.6 out of 5

was how respondents overall rated personal readiness to meet the decarbonisation targets for industry

55.3%

of employers do not provide training on decarbonisation and carbon management

97.4%

say CIHT has a role to play in ensuring members have the skills and knowledge needed for decarbonisation

With thanks to T&RS Consultancy, one of the UK’s leading CPD providers, for supporting the survey. For more on its services visit www.trsconsult.co.uk.

’Shining a light on problems’

“T&RS Consultancy are delighted to have worked in partnership with CIHT in supporting this very important survey, which shines a light on the problems associated with engineering skills shortages,” said T&RS director Nick Newton.

T&RS delivers STEM CPD training courses in traffic engineering, road safety engineering and road safety auditing (GG119) through classroom-based training, e-learning and in-house courses (at delegate offices) in the UK, Europe and internationally.

Through its work with CIHT on promoting STEM training, T&RS is acutely aware of the skills shortage challenge, which the survey highlights. While apprenticeships and graduate training programmes can help prepare the next generation of engineers, ongoing CPD is just as important. CPD training can refresh the desire to keep learning, makes employees feel appreciated that their employer has invested in them, and ultimately optimises productivity.

Newton said: “Employers should consider providing effective CPD as an employee retention tool and to enable engineers to progress their careers without having to change employers. CPD training is more cost-effective than recruitment.”

Online training and e-learning are a great way to train flexibly without affecting productivity. All T&RS courses can be undertaken via e-learning.

With thanks to T&RS Consultancy, one of the UK’s leading CPD providers, for supporting the survey.