We spoke to Damien Owens about the high demand for skilled engineers in Ireland and the broad career potential.
We are almost halfway through Ireland’s annual Engineers Week, where schools, institutions and organisations focus on the topics that most impact the sector. Whether it is educational discussions, showcases, workshops or seminars, now is an ideal time to embrace engineering and discover what really makes the sector tick.
With that in mind, we spoke to Damien Owens, the director general of Engineers Ireland on the current landscape, the high demand for skilled employees and how engineering professionals can stay skilled in an ever-advancing industry.
“There are more than 60,000 engineers working in Ireland across a range of different industries”, he told SiliconRepublic.com. “When many people think of engineers they imagine someone working in areas like civil or construction, building homes or vital infrastructure projects.
“While many engineers work in this area, engineering is an incredibly broad profession and engineers work developing new sources of renewable energy, creating software, designing machinery for manufacturing and even on space programmes.”
Finding opportunity
According to Owens, Ireland is an attractive environment for engineers, with plenty of opportunities, particularly for graduates, with high employment a characteristic of the sector and a high demand for skilled workers in the country. However, he noted the industry is suffering from a common problem persisting in the world of work, in that there is a growing skills gap that needs to be addressed.
This he explained is evident in the engineering disciplines listed on the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment’s Critical Skills List, which highlights the skills shortage currently being experienced.
“Solas, Ireland’s further education and training agency, has also reported critical shortages of engineers in the market. Engineers Ireland’s most recent barometer report, Engineering 2024, estimated that there would be around 6,000 engineering vacancies during that year.”
According to Owens, dedication, integrity and creativity are perhaps the most important attributes an engineer can possess and it is crucial that they learn how to problem-solve and adapt. “Additionally, engineers increasingly work in large, multidisciplinary teams and thus teamwork, planning and communication skills are of increasing importance in the profession.
“These skills complement the array of technical skills required for the performance of each discipline of engineering and are the foundation of strong professional performance.”
For the students, graduates and even the experts looking to acquire and grow skills, there are several routes to take. For example, Owens notes the more than 230 third-level engineering qualification courses that are accredited by Engineers Ireland, as they educate students not just in maths and the technicalities, but also incorporate equally valuable soft skills.
Striking a balance
This coming Saturday (8 March) is International Women’s Day, a day in which women all over the world are celebrated. However, it is also a platform through which gender disparity can be addressed and talked about. As noted by Owens, the engineering profession, like many in the working world, is a male-dominated industry, with women making up roughly 12pc of practicing engineers.
“While the number of women make up close to one-in-four students studying engineering at third-level, there is still a lot of work to do to create a healthier gender balance within the profession. While we see these discrepancies in adulthood, their roots are owed to experiences in childhood when ideas about the attractiveness of certain careers or subjects are formed.”
He is of the opinion that stereotypes and a lack of awareness around STEM subjects can negatively impact children of all genders, but often the damage is more pronounced when its effects are on young girls or people from disadvantaged backgrounds, who are disproportionately underrepresented in the engineering profession.
“As parents, educators and policymakers, we can do more to embed an interest in, and positive view of, engineering, at home and in school. Increased exposure to positive role models, more guidance in schools focused on STEM careers, and dispelling unhelpful notions that engineering requires a strong natural ability in mathematics or a ‘maths brain’ that relatively few possess, will help.”
Looking forward, Owens stated there is every reason to believe that the future of engineering in Ireland is bright. An open and globalised economy will continue to attract international investment empowering the engineering industry to move at an upwards trajectory.
“This is a great time to be an engineer. The challenges we face – housing, infrastructure, climate change, renewable energy, using AI – need the problem-solving abilities and technical knowledge of engineers. As engineers solve one challenge they move on to the next and therefore engineers can have many careers.”
Don’t miss out on the knowledge you need to succeed. Sign up for the Daily Brief, Silicon Republic’s digest of need-to-know sci-tech news.
