Skills gap research

The IOR is taking the lead in addressing training needs of the Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump sector. Last year a project was set up to focus in on three key areas:

1. Current and future skills gaps
2. Industry-led learning methods
3. Continuing professional development

The first stage of the research involved gathering industry evaluation against a set of 45 individual knowledge, skills and attitudes (KSAs) within engineering. A study so far has surveyed 298 IOR members and non-members within the RACHP industry. Respondents rated the importance of each skill to their respective subsector and then rated the performance of a recent graduate or apprentice recruit.

Report Key Highlights

• Core engineering skills deemed ‘extremely’ important by industry respondents are currently not being met,
• Emphasis on the need for professional attitudes, core engineering skills, and keeping up with technology advancements,
• The need for individuals who understood the theoretical and practical implications of the projects they were managing and for technicians to show basic business understanding,
• SMEs, of which make up the bulk of the RACHP industry, struggle to facilitate or promote training,
• Urgent need for CPD for those who have entered the workforce in the past 5 years,
• CPD activities should be a collaborative,
• The current preferred platform for CPD activities were traditional methods,

• A belief that bridging the issues will be slow,

• RACHP hard-to-fill jobs include: managerial, design, sales and technical.

 Read the full reports by clicking on an image below:    

The study is still open and can be accessed on the link below, the study is open to all fields of the greater engineering sectors:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/SkillsGapEng