Following a meeting with members of the Skills and Jobs Retention Group, Business Secretary Vince Cable has praised the development and progress of its Talent Retention Solution (TRS) website, which holds details of engineering staff at risk of redundancy and vacancies in the engineering sectors.
The Skills and Jobs Retention Group was set up to help redeploy and retain vitally needed engineering skills as a result of changes arising from the Strategic Defence and Security Review. The system is now available to companies and employees in all of the advanced manufacturing and engineering sectors across the UK.
The development will support engineers looking for work, as well as companies looking to recruit, as a way of retaining vital skills for the benefit of growing sectors in engineering such as aerospace, automotive, renewables, marine and nuclear. The TRS service is free to use for SMEs with less than 500 employees.
Business Secretary Vince Cable, said, “The TRS provides a way for advanced manufacturing and engineering companies to recruit engineers quickly. It supports UK economic growth by ensuring that sectors who are winning business and recruiting can secure vital engineering talent from companies that are in a different economic cycle. I encourage engineering firms to take advantage of this important opportunity to add to their skillsets, and particularly SMEs for who the service is free.”
Chairman of the Skills and Jobs Retention Group, Allan Cook, added, “It is very clear that there is real demand for engineering skills in the market which is reflected in the success of TRS. The system is already fully operational and working well. Many of the larger and medium sized engineering companies are actively engaged, but it is relevant to all companies in the supply chain with demand for engineering skills or where there is, unfortunately, a need to engage with companies where employee numbers are reducing due to market forces.”
For more details and to sign up to the TRS system, visit www.talentretention.biz.
Developing and retaining skills is vital to the success of the UK automotive sector, and will be a key priority for the industry in 2012. Recent government funding announcements will be important in contributing to the continued growth of automotive companies. The next free SMMT webinar – ‘Retaining and Developing Skills‘ – will provide valuable advice and information on upcoming initiatives.
Click through to find out more or to register for the free ‘Retaining and Developing Skills’ SMMT webinar starting at 10:30 on Thursday 26 January 2012.
