Ireland must dramatically increase its supply of engineering graduates and apprentices, according to a report by Engineers Ireland. More than 6,000 openings for engineering jobs are expected this year, and 94% of engineering employers consider a shortage of experienced engineers to be a barrier to growth with almost half expecting the situation to get worse this year.

Civil and building engineers were most in demand, with 59% of organisations seeking to hire engineers in this discipline.

On the other hand, there has been a 55% decrease in civil and building engineering graduates over the last five years. The report did note that there has been a 48% increase in entrants to civil and building engineering courses in higher education, albeit from a low base since 2012.

“The current reality is that the number of students moving into third-level engineering and technology sectors needs to be much larger to meet our country’s current and future needs,” said Engineers Ireland Director General Caroline Spillane. “With just 35% of the parents of secondary school children that we surveyed confident in explaining what an engineer does, as a society we need to collectively do more to inform the public about the importance and diversity of the modern engineer.”

Engineers Ireland’s report noted that graduate engineering salaries rose 21% since 2014 to €33,750, or approximately US$38,603).