Building Skills for Britain's Future | Engineering Workforce Planning

Building skills for Britain’s future

28/07/2026

Published: 28 July 2026
Author: Sharna Rolle, Head of Apprenticeships, Engineering Skills College

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on the future of technical education, Sharna Rolle shares why workforce planning should be at the heart of every engineering business.

Building skills for tomorrow’s engineering workforce

This week’s announcement from the Prime Minister is a welcome acknowledgement of the role apprenticeships have to play in strengthening Britain’s workforce. The commitment to increase employer involvement in shaping technical skills reflects the way we have been working with our engineering businesses for some time.

For these engineering businesses, the skills challenges are already here. Experienced engineers are approaching retirement with no one ready to take their place. Employment costs continue to rise, particularly for SMEs. Engineering roles are evolving as AI, automation and new legislation reshape the knowledge and skills needed in the workplace. At the same time, businesses are expected to remain productive, competitive and ready to deliver.

Move from reactive recruitment to proactive workforce planning

As those challenges have grown, I’ve noticed the conversations with employers changing too. We still talk about apprenticeship funding and recruitment, but increasingly we’re discussing workforce planning. Which skills are becoming harder to recruit? Where could knowledge be lost over the next five years? Which roles will your business need as technology and customer expectations continue to evolve?

Those are the questions that should shape an apprenticeship programme.

Starting with the business, not the apprenticeship

At Engineering Skills College, we don’t start with an apprenticeship standard and ask employers to fit around it. We start by understanding the business, its workforce and its ambitions. Our new Engineering Maintenance Technician apprenticeship is a good example: employers told us they needed a programme that reflected the realities of modern engineering across manufacturing, critical infrastructure and data centres. The standard provides a common technical foundation, but the way we deliver it is shaped by the industries and environments our apprentices work in every day.

Look at your workforce in the same way you would your finances, operations or order book.

My advice to employers is simple: make workforce planning part of your business planning. Look at your workforce in the same way you would your finances, operations or order book. Where are the risks? Which skills are becoming business critical? How will your organisation continue to grow as experienced colleagues retire and new technologies emerge?

Every employer’s answer will be different and apprenticeships won’t always be the solution. My role is to help employers understand the options available, build a workforce strategy that supports their long-term goals and, where apprenticeships are the right fit, develop a programme that delivers real value to the business.

If this week’s announcement encourages more employers to think strategically about developing homegrown talent, then it will have been an important step.

About the author

Sharna Rolle is Head of Apprenticeships at Engineering Skills College. She works with engineering employers to develop apprenticeship programmes that support workforce planning, succession planning and long-term business growth.