Latest UK engineering and technology skills stats 2025

Workforce and Recruitment Challenges

• 76% of engineering employers struggle to recruit for key roles, with technical and specialist sustainability skills topping the list – a clear signal of a growing skills crisis.
• Only 61% say the current workforce is fit for the future, while 35% disagree – a significant divide in confidence.

Future Skills and Innovation

• 42% of engineering employers rank innovative thinking as the most vital skill for future growth, ahead of digital and technical expertise (39%) – showing a shift in priorities toward creativity and adaptability.

Upskilling and Knowledge Transfer

• 50% cite lack of time as a barrier to upskilling/reskilling, and 46% say employee turnover hinders progress – pointing to structural challenges in workforce development.
• 80% say they effectively share knowledge between employees, but only 57% feel effective do so with retiring staff – a risk for long-term knowledge retention.

Education and Apprenticeships

• Nearly half (45%) of engineering employers do not think the education system is fit for purpose – indicating concerns about how well it prepares students for real-world engineering roles.
• 51% of employers engage in educational initiatives via apprenticeships, rising to 66% in large organisations – showing strong industry-education links.
• Approximately half (48%) of employers use the apprenticeship levy, and 59% retain more than half of their apprentices after completion of the apprenticeship – an opportunity for the new Growth and Skills Levy to improve accessibility of funding.
• Around a quarter (24%) sponsor STEM programmes in schools – an underutilised way for industry to tap into future workforce.

Digital Skills

• Automation (38%) and cyber security (38%) are the top digital skills needed for growth, followed by data engineering (34%) and software engineering (33%).
• 30% say they lack automation skills, and 17% struggle to recruit for data and software engineering roles, as well as cyber security roles – highlighting a digital capability gap.

Artificial Intelligence

• 58% of engineering employers currently use AI, but only 18% use it regularly – suggesting early adoption but limited integration.
• 23% who do not currently use AI plan to do so in the future – indicating an area of potential growth that may be hampered by lack of skills and resource for adoption.
• 61% expect AI to improve productivity, and 50% expect enhanced problem solving – strong optimism about AI’s potential.

Sustainability and decarbonisation

• 36% say their organisation lacks the skills to decarbonise by 2050 – a major concern given national decarbonisation targets.
• Technical/specialist sustainability skills are both the most needed (39%) and most missing (35%) – a clear priority area.
• Cost is the top barrier to decarbonisation: 34% cite operating costs, and 29% cite investment costs.

EDI and flexible working

• 83% of engineering employers offer flexible work, but of those that do not (14%), three in five (59%) say it’s because the job can’t be done remotely – a practical limitation.
• Large organisations are more likely to say they offer flexible working arrangements (87%) compared to SMEs (79%).
• 70% are interested in improving workforce diversity, yet only 52% have taken recent action – showing room for growth.

Nation breakdown

The data from our latest Skills Survey can be broken down by both nation and region, highlighting key differences and areas of weakness/opportunity across England, Scotland and Wales. 

England’s Education Confidence vs. Skills Struggles

• 54% of engineering employers in England say their education system is fit for purpose yet 76% also say they struggle to find certain skills when recruiting.

Scotland’s Quantum Tech Blind Spot

• Only 21% of Scottish engineering employers foresee quantum applications for their business, and just 19% say their workforce is prepared – which is the lowest in the UK.

AI Adoption Divide

• Just 10% of Scottish engineering employers use AI regularly, compared to 18% in England and 22% in Wales.

Digital Skills Shortage in England

• 57% of English engineering employers struggle to recruit digital skills – significantly higher than those in Scotland (46%).

Apprenticeship Levy Disparity

• Engineering employers in Scotland (23%) are the least likely to use the apprenticeship levy to employ/recruit apprentices compared to England (35%) - a disparity which the new Growth and Skills Levy should look to address. 

Sustainability Skills Shortage

• Engineering employers in England (30%) report more difficulty recruiting sustainability specialists than those in Scotland (19%).

 Commercial Skills for Growth

• England leads with 24% citing commercial skills as key for future growth, compared to 14% in Wales.

 Automation Recruitment

• Only 8% of Scottish engineering employers struggle to recruit for automation – significantly lower than those in England (15%), possibly indicating lower demand or awareness.

 Profitability from AI

• 44% of Welsh engineering employers expect AI to boost profitability. 

 Engagement with Schools

• Engineering employers in Scotland are almost twice as likely than those in Wales to say they sponsor STEM programmes in secondary schools (23% vs. 12%). 

 Flexible Working

• Engineering employers in Wales are the least likely to offer at least one form of flexible working arrangement (72%), compared to those in Scotland (86%) and England (84%).
• Employers in Scotland are more likely to offer hybrid working arrangements, with 63% doing so compared to 49% in Wales. Additionally, a third (33%) of Scottish employers provide compressed hours – allowing employees to work the same weekly hours over fewer days – versus a quarter (25%) in England and just 17% in Wales.

Diversity focus on Gender

• There is broadly no difference by nation for taking action to improve workforce diversity (53% England, 51% Wales, 49% Scotland). 
• 67% of Scottish engineering employers say their diversity efforts focus on sex/gender identity – higher than those in England who say the same (54%).

The IET has published this Skills Survey in conjunction with market research agency YouGov. The fieldwork was completed by 1,316 respondents with managerial responsibility from engineering or technology employers between 10 February and 13 March 2025. The latest report is available via the IET’s website at 2025 UK Engineering and Technology skills survey.

 
ENDS

Notes to Editor

About the IET

• We inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community to engineer a better world.     
• We are a diverse home for engineering and technology intelligence throughout the world. This breadth and depth means we are uniquely placed to help the sector progress society.     
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Media enquiries to:

Rebecca Gillick
External Communications & PR Lead
E: rgillick@theiet.org