The trade union Prospect has launched a manifesto aimed at helping employers attract, develop and retain workers in STEM subjects.
Its Agenda for UK STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) sets out suggestions in six key areas where it believes employers could improve what they offer: valuing expertise; tackling inequality; retaining talent; investing in every sector and region; nurturing the next generation and building international collaboration.
It cites research from the Institute for Engineering and Technology showing a shortfall of 173,000 STEM workers, costing the UK economy £1.5 bn a year.
Other research shows that the nuclear industry needs to recruit up to 40,000 new staff by 2030 to meet its targets, and up to 60,000 to return to previous levels of nuclear power output.
In March this year, the government launched its International Technology Strategy designed to make the UK a ‘tech superpower’ by 2030.
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However, Prospect argues that a number of challenges are preventing the UK from achieving these targets.
These include a lack of public understanding of the important role of scientific research and development, something that was “threatened by political misuse and media misrepresentation” during the Covid pandemic.
Other challenges include underinvestment in R&D, cuts to overseas development funding and a drop in collaborations since Brexit, and uncompetitive pay and working conditions.
Prospect members in STEM industries shared their concerns about the issues facing the sector. One said: “Failure to retain staff who have had a financial motive in their decision to leave puts the teams that leave them behind at a major disadvantage.”
Another said the industry needed to address diversity: “I was the only woman and the only person of colour in my intake, and all the rest of them have mentors, they get the projects that lead to progression, while I go out and tell girls that there’s a great career for them in engineering.”
Prospect said it would work to win support from politicians, policymakers and the public to secure improvements to working lives and careers in the STEM industry.
Recommendations include:
- Consulting STEM workers so they can contribute insight into what needs to change in order to attract and retain more talent to the sector.
- That the government is more transparent and accountable around how it uses scientific evidence and advice to make political decisions.
- Tackling the structural disadvantages that deter women, LGBT+, disabled and ethnic minority workers in STEM from thriving.
- Pay systems that reward and incentivise specialist experience and deep expertise, allowing paths of progression that don’t necessarily mean switching to a management role.
- Trade unions working with government to design and deliver in-work training and lifelong learning so businesses can ‘grow their own’ STEM specialists.
- Put measures in place to secure international collaboration and funding since Britain’s exit from the European Union.
Mike Clancy, Prospect’s general secretary, said: “Successive governments have made a lot of noise about their commitment to STEM skills, but the UK is still lagging behind in investment and has a huge amount of work to do if it is to meet the demand for jobs in this area.
“As the leading union for science, engineering and R&D, Prospect is well-placed to lead the conversation on how we meet the workforce challenges of the coming years. This manifesto sets out a clear plan for addressing inequality in the sector, and how we can invest smartly to create and retain the skills we need.
“The UK truly has the ability to be a science superpower but only if it takes investment in skills seriously. Warm words are not enough.”
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