Industry insights - Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the process of adding value to raw materials by turning them into products. Recently, some industries within UK manufacturing have been characterised by declining employment and productivity. A major challenge has also come from emerging economies, such as China and India, which are able to produce goods more cheaply. The global economic slowdown and rising energy and materials costs have also affected manufacturers.
However, UK manufacturing is in a strong position to respond to new challenges and future opportunities by exploiting its established strengths in aerospace, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and electronics, in addition to recognising the need to diversify and to embrace new and evolving markets. To do this successfully, manufacturing industries need to employ qualified and multi-skilled graduates.
Opportunities for graduates are available in:
Manufacturing is an important part of the UK economy. It accounts for 12.8% of UK gross domestic product (GDP) and 55% of total exports. The manufacturing sector expanded again in the first quarter of 2011, its sixth consecutive quarter of growth. However, the manufacturing workforce has fallen sharply over the past 30 years, from 5.8 million in March 1981 to 2.5 million in March 2011, which is around 8% of the UK workforce (UK Parliament, 2011). No single industry dominates UK manufacturing output, as it encompasses a wide range of industries.
Employment in the sector varies by region. It is highest in the East Midlands, where it accounts for about one job in eight. By contrast, less than 3% of jobs in London are in manufacturing. The year from March 2010 to March 2011 saw different trends in employment across the regions. The manufacturing workforce in Wales grew by 8% and in the South East by 7%. London and Scotland, however, saw falls of more than 10% over the same period. (UK Parliament, 2011)
Although opportunities are available throughout the UK, some industries tend to be concentrated in one or more regions. For example, aerospace has a heavier presence around the Bristol area, motor vehicle manufacture takes place largely in the Midlands, and oil and gas-related industries are concentrated in Aberdeen and the surrounding area.
For information on working overseas, see opportunities abroad.
The following profiles are examples of key jobs that exist in the manufacturing sector. To find the job roles that best match your skills and interests, login to what jobs would suit me?
For even more career ideas, take a look at types of jobs.
Find out more about job application advice.
Entry to graduate training schemes with leading global manufacturers is competitive and some will require a high degree classification and number of UCAS points. The application process typically consists of several stages, including online applications and psychometric tests, interviews and assessment centres.
Many other employers, however, such as small to medium-sized companies, are more flexible with regards to entry requirements.
In addition to technical knowledge, employers typically look for skills in the following areas:
Employers also look for a genuine interest in and understanding of the industry, so it is important to keep up to date with the latest developments.
Internships, work experience, sports and societies, voluntary work and being an active student member of industry-related societies and professional bodies can help you to develop the skills sought by employers.
For many roles within manufacturing, obtaining relevant work experience is highly valuable and, in some cases, essential.
Increasingly, the biggest companies are offering internship or work placement programmes to attract future recruits before their final year. Competition for positions within large firms can be high so it is also worth approaching small companies to enquire about work experience. Opportunities with smaller firms are not always advertised, so it is a good idea to research companies you are interested in and apply speculatively.
Be aware that some manufacturing plants shut down over the summer, which may limit opportunities for summer vacation placements.
Organisations such as Step provide opportunities for students and graduates to work with smaller firms on project-based work placement programmes.
Opportunities with smaller firms are not always advertised. Research companies you are interested in and apply via a CV and speculative letter.
For vacancies and advice, see work experience and internships .
This depends on the industry you are applying to, the product you will be working on, and how specialised the work is that you want to do.
Some companies support part-time postgraduate study alongside work, in order to assist your professional development.
For more specific advice on the qualifications required in particular industries and for individual roles, see types of jobs.
Most employers support graduate career development. For engineers, scientists, accountants and other professionals there is a formal career pathway. Each industry’s professional body has specific career development and continuing professional development (CPD) information and advice on its website.
Other career development opportunities include:
Promotion is dependent on gaining the appropriate practical experience and undergoing the relevant training, and sometimes on gaining professional qualifications and chartered or incorporated status. Speed of promotion can also depend on:
Progression will also depend on your own ambitions. You may choose to progress on a technical, management or commercial path.
Gaining chartered or incorporated status will earn you recognition overseas as well as in the UK.
These generally have well-developed graduate development programmes, providing comprehensive experience and training, and responsibility is often given very early on.
Companies typically recruit large numbers of graduates into sales and marketing, IT, human resources, business and commercial, engineering, research and development (R&D), supply chain, finance and procurement roles.
Major companies include:
SMEs are organisations with less than 250 employees and an annual turnover of no more than 50 million Euros. Working for a smaller company can be rewarding because you are more likely to forge a path for yourself within the company.
SMEs are unlikely to use the testing and assessment techniques of larger companies, or follow lengthy recruitment procedures. SMEs are more likely to advertise their vacancies through the local press, university careers service bulletins, local graduate vacancy listings, jobcentres and word of mouth, rather than rely on their reputation and a presence at graduate recruitment fairs.
If you start out in a smaller manufacturing company, your training may be less structured. However, smaller organisations can provide fantastic opportunities to gain experience in a range of manufacturing activities.
Most industries in manufacturing are characterised by hundreds of SMEs. To find contact details, use the Yellow Pages and Thomson Local . Your university careers service should also have listings of jobs with smaller firms. See also the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) .
Self-employment is possible in this industry but usually only after a sustained period of work experience. Find out more about self-employment.
Manufacturing is a truly global industry. To gain a competitive advantage over their rivals, all companies, regardless of size, need to constantly review their source materials and markets. This means that manufacturing offers many opportunities to work or travel abroad.
Companies may require those with specialist qualifications and experience to work in other parts of the world. Engineers in particular are in demand worldwide, and experienced, qualified engineers can choose to travel and work abroad extensively.
Most opportunities for new graduates, however, are short term or just include some international travel. Long-term jobs or postings abroad are more likely with considerable experience.
In order to increase your chances of getting a job overseas, thoroughly research the companies that interest you, and ask yourself the following questions:
In general, UK degrees and qualifications are well regarded, but they do not necessarily provide a passport to working abroad. You may be required to undertake further study or training in your chosen country. Check with your professional body to find out about country-specific requirements.
A role within an organisation such as one of the large graduate recruiters listed in typical employers may give you a better chance of working abroad. They often advertise international opportunities as part of their recruitment campaigns.
The most popular areas of work include:
Smaller companies may also have opportunities for graduates in areas such as negotiating new supply chains, investigating new markets for exports and setting up new plants and offices.
Manufacturing has a key role to play in the UK’s economic recovery. It not only contributes to exports and productivity growth but also ensures that the UK economy is not overly dependent on sectors such as banking and financial services. In certain regions of the UK, manufacturing is vital to the local economy. Retaining traditional manufacturing skills and recognising the growth potential in the high-tech ‘advanced manufacturing’ sub-sectors are important steps on the road to economic recovery.
The government’s publication, The Path to Strong, Sustainable and Balanced Growth (November 2010), announced a rolling growth review to consider structural reforms and how to tackle barriers to growth in six different sectors, including manufacturing. It stated that:
Despite perceptions to the contrary, the UK has real strengths in manufacturing, responsible for over half of all UK exports in 2009. The UK has a strong competitive advantage in sectors where it is possible to build on the UK’s strong skills and research base, such as aerospace, defence, bio-pharmaceuticals, microelectronics and chemicals, and emerging potential in other sectors including in low carbon vehicle technologies.
The aims for the sector for the next ten years are to grow manufacturing in the UK, to make the UK Europe’s leading exporter of high value goods and related services, and to increase the proportion of the workforce seeking, and capable of, a career in manufacturing (UK Parliament, 2011).
Reverse logistics is concerned with the management of waste or used products. It has become more important recently as governments have introduced legislation to reduce the dumping of waste, so measures have to be taken to re-use, recycle, repair, refurbish and/or re-manufacture what would previously have been dumped. Increasingly, manufacturers must consider the ‘whole life’ of the product, and designers need to plan ahead for how the product will be disposed of at the end of its life.
More than 70% of business R&D in the UK goes into the manufacturing sector, and goods produced in the sector account for nearly half of all UK exports. Research involves exploring new concepts or materials for products as well as making incremental improvements to existing products. The aim of research is to give the manufacturer an edge in the market, by introducing ideas for an improved product or innovating a new, advanced process. The development process involves taking a product design or prototype and making it into a product that can be manufactured. Development teams consider the scale of production (volume), the availability of materials (and their cost), production safety, lead times, quality and overall cost. The government has pledged to provide £200million a year by 2014-15 to support manufacturing and business development, with a focus on supporting potential high growth companies and the commercialisation of technologies, including funding for an elite network of R&D intensive technology and innovation centres (HM Treasury, Spending Review 2010).
According to SEMTA: The Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies , around 205,000 jobs will need to be filled within manufacturing sectors between 2010 and 2016 to replace people who retire and meet demand from fast-growing industries like advanced manufacturing.
The perception is that schools are not producing enough pupils who have studied physics, maths and chemistry at A-level or Higher level. The study of these subjects at advanced level is crucial for entry into engineering and science degrees. The government is trying to address this issue, through the National Apprenticeship Service as well as Skills Funding Agency, which offers fully or partially funded training in the sector, but this does not go to the root of the issue.
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