3 Shortage Occupations That Need More Workers Right Now

Unemployment is at its lowest since the 1970s, which is great news if you want to change your job. While reduced competition is making it generally easier to find work, some industries are particularly short of recruits.

So if you’re keen to boost your job prospects, read on to discover which shortage occupations desperately need more workers.

This essential job tops our shortage occupation list. In 2018, the Public Accounts Committee warned that headteachers are struggling to attract and retain teachers who have the required level of expertise. At the same time, the Department for Education is predicting that secondary school numbers will increase by 20% over the next six years.

Working with kids can be stressful, so it’s not surprising that most teachers are exhausted by the end of each term. But there are plenty of positives aspects to this challenging occupation. In the words of a teacher who has 18 years’ experience, “teaching is bewildering, frustrating and exhausting but it’s also the most amazing, the most rewarding, the most joyous job I can imagine.”

There are lots of reasons why becoming a teacher might appeal to you, for example:

In the United Kingdom, the traditional way to enter teaching involves finding a one-year postgraduate course then applying for a place via UCAS Teacher Training. But before you apply, you’ll need to decide whether you’d like to teach in primary schools or secondary schools.

If you opt to teach in primary schools, you’ll study a wide range of subjects, although you could train as a specialist with a particular focus on maths or PE. Your course will be funded via a tuition fee loan and a maintenance loan unless you specialise in maths, in which case you’ll receive an additional bursary. Extra financial help is also available for parents and carers, so you might be eligible for:

Secondary school teachers specialise in teaching a subject they’re passionate about. If you choose this option you’ll be eligible for a tuition fee and maintenance loans, but you’ll also receive a bursary or scholarship. The value of this depends on the subject you train to teach. Shortage subjects receive the most extra funding, so a trainee maths teacher could be awarded up to £32,000 extra, while a music teacher will receive just £9,000.

Towards the end of your teacher training course, you should start applying for jobs. The easiest way to do this is online, although you could also send some speculative CVs to specific schools. According to the Department for Education, 95% of newly qualified teachers are employed as teachers within 6 months of completing their training.

The starting salary for a teacher is £23,720. Senior teachers receive up to £39,406 and leading practitioners can earn as much as £61,005. These figures vary according to your location, so if you work for a school in inner London you could earn significantly more. Check out the Get Into Teaching website for more details. The website also includes details of the government’s salaried teacher training apprenticeships, which are ideal if you’d rather earn while you learn.

Teachers often have the opportunity to take on extra roles and responsibilities and thus boost their salary – for example:

Nursing is the second career in our shortage occupation list. While the rising proportion of workers over fifty is one factor behind the NHS’s shortage of medical staff, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit has made the crisis worse. Before the Brexit referendum, the NHS had become heavily reliant on overseas recruitment, but in 2017, the number of European nurses who joined the Nursing and Midwifery Council’s register plummeted by 90%. On top of this, the number of nurses leaving the profession nearly doubled.

Recruitment has also been affected by the government’s introduction of tuition fees and maintenance grants. Gone are the days when student nurses received free training and a generous bursary to cover their living costs.

Despite these issues, this shortage occupation is still an excellent career choice for many people. Here’s why.

To become a nurse, you’ll need to study a degree in nursing and be registered with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). You can choose to study adult nursing, children’s nursing, mental health nursing or learning disability nursing and you’ll spend half of your degree on placements in hospitals and community settings.

As they no longer receive a bursary, trainee nurses are eligible to apply for the standard student support package of tuition fee and maintenance loans. Newly qualified nurses earn a salary of £23,023.

Once you’ve gained a few years experience as a nurse, you might want to move on to a senior, specialist or advanced nursing role.

Engineers are next on the shortage occupation list. They play a crucial role in many areas of modern life, from road maintenance to biotechnology to gas safety, but we simply don’t have enough of them. In fact, Engineering UK predicted that the country will need 1.8 million new engineers and technicians by 2026, which means that we need to train thousands of graduates and apprentices.

Some reasons why people choose to pursue careers in engineering are:

So how do you enter this shortage occupation? A general degree in engineering is fine for many roles, but some areas of engineering require a more specific degree. To get a job in product design and development, you’ll probably need a masters degree and if you want to become a chartered engineer, you’ll definitely need an engineering master’s or doctorate.

While all undergraduates are able to apply for loans to cover their tuition fees and living costs, there are also some excellent engineering scholarships and bursaries available. For example, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers awards a number of £8,000 scholarships to students studying an accredited IMechE degree. The Institution of Civil Engineers runs a similar scholarship scheme which includes paid work placements every summer.

Not keen on going to university? Then you could apply for an engineering apprenticeship instead. These last between two and six years and combine on the job training with studying for either a vocational qualification or a degree.  Companies currently offering apprenticeships include Balfour Beatty, British Gas, EON, Jaguar Land Rover, National Grid, the MOD, the Royal Navy, Sky, Network Rail, Ford and Skanska.

Chemical engineers (also known as process engineers) turn raw materials into useful everyday products, such as food, clothes and energy. They work in a variety of industries including the food and drink industry, the textiles industry and the pharmaceutical industry.

Civil engineers design, build and maintain a community’s infrastructure. This includes buildings, roads, railways, power systems and waste management networks.

Average salary: £41,256

Civil engineers design, build and maintain a community’s infrastructure. This includes buildings, roads, railways, power systems and waste management networks.

Average salary: £30,450

Electrical engineers work with robotics, telecommunications, electricity transmission, control systems and building services like heating and ventilation.

Average salary: £31,973

Electronics engineers design, develop and test small pieces of equipment such as transistors and resistors. These are used in many useful products from mobile phones to medical equipment.

Average salary: £33,324

Materials engineers design, develop and mix materials in order to improve product performance and durability.

Average salary £31,560

Mechanical engineers develop and design the components, equipment and machinery used by many industries from IT to healthcare.

Average salary: £34,720

Most engineering professionals in the United Kingdom work towards gaining chartered status, which involves demonstrating your expertise and experience. Becoming a chartered engineer (CEng) will enable you to access senior roles and work overseas, as it’s an internationally recognised qualification. If you haven’t been to university but you have got an HND or a level three diploma in engineering, you can become professionally qualified as an engineering technician (EngTech).

Keen on any of the shortage occupations on our list? Whether you fancy becoming a teacher or a senior staff nurse, don’t forget to explore our courses if you need any extra qualifications!