Addressing the chronic skills gap, Nikesh Mystery, Section Head of Industrial Automation at GAMBICA, calls for greater collaboration between academia and industry to change outdated perceptions and put the next generation of talent on an industrial career path.
We must ensure our future workforce has the skills, ability and drive to want to succeed within industry. This has been a recurring topic of conversation amongst our membership over the past few years. 10 years ago, many of the current jobs in industry didn’t even exist, yet today we are constantly seeking ways in which we can use technology to create more jobs. However, one thing we must not forget is those who will be doing those jobs. Our future workforce. They require the same level, if not more attention than we are giving to digital transformation.
Of course, one of the best ways to do this is to reach out to directly to universities, colleges, schools and students at even younger ages, who haven’t yet decided where they would like their careers to unfold. For it is that generation that will be sure to shape the future of our industry. We need drastic changes in how engineering and STEM subjects are perceived. Not only in the media, but within the institutions mentioned above. It is so common for younger generations to believe an engineer will be stuck in a hard hat in a loud/messy environment all day, and that most certainly isn’t the case anymore. We need to educate the educated on being able to challenge these negative perceptions of STEM subjects.
One of the ways GAMBICA is acting to help on this journey has been by our University and Industry collaboration group (GUIC). We created this group 3 years ago now, with the aim to explore how industry and academia can collaborate in industrial member engagement with schools and 6th form colleges, and on collaborative research and policy. GAMBICA developed this group to explore the methods and practices that we could use to deliver value to students, university staff and industry members, and to augment teaching materials and equipment, as well as to offer relevant work placements, focus research, access industrial technology & data, and ultimately to retain talent in our industry.
GAMBICA can utilise our pool of experts to bridge this gap and fix the separation that has always been there. It is too often that we hear the dreaded circle, “I can’t find a job because I have no experience, but I can’t get experience because I can’t find a job”. This is a common issue and it STEM’s (if you’ll pardon my pun) directly from the miscommunication and lack of transparency between academia and industry. We are not too late to connect this gap. The same way there is a skills gap between IT and OT in industry, all we need is the push in the right direction.
The GUIC has been developing case studies within its working groups, and each year we host a “Collaborate” event where our members showcase the work that the group has been achieving. The GUIC council consist of a combination of both industry and academic members from all GAMBICA sectors.
To find out how you can be involved in this University and Industry Collaboration group or to find out more about the upcoming event, get in touch on our website:
