New engineering jobs created as Lancashire firms tap into T Level talent
Two engineering firms in Chorley and Halton, Lancaster have offered four young engineers permanent roles, after successfully completing their T Level industry placements – a boost to the county’s economy at a time when unfilled vacancies are costing the UK more than £6 billion a year.
Manufacturing is a key economic driver for Lancashire, employing over 80,000 people and contributing £2bn to the national economy yearly.
Lyndhurst Precision, which employs 57 people in the local area, has hosted six T Level students to date, whilst Like Technologies, which employs 26 people, has hosted four students. This has given both firms access to motivated young people learning the latest engineering and manufacturing skills and adding value to their daily operations.
T Levels are a two-year qualification for 16–19-year-olds, combining classroom learning with a 45-day industry placement. Both Lyndhurst and Like Technologies have embedded T Levels into their recruitment strategy and will be taking on new students this year.
Andy Wilding, Technical Manager at Lyndhurst, explains: “You get the CVs through, but you don’t always get the right person matching the CV. Working with T Level students gives us a much better chance to find out whether they’re the right fit.”
Hosting T Level students has given both firms the chance to see the students’ skills in action over an extended period – helping the companies build a clearer picture of how they’d fit into their team than an interview alone.
Kate Houlden, Managing Director at Like Technologies, says: “It was great to see how they’d applied what they’d learnt in college to a real workplace environment. At the end of the placement, their confidence levels had skyrocketed.”
The qualifications were designed with employers, so students have the technical skills that businesses are looking for. One in three students who progress into work are hired by their placement employer (DfE).
Andy adds: “Once they’ve been given a bit of induction and training, they’re able to do jobs that really need doing. We don’t make up tasks just to keep them busy; they get stuck in and add real value.”
For both Kate and Andy, hosting T Level industry placements has been a huge success. Kate says: “We’ve really seen the benefit as a business. I’d do it again – it's a great recruitment pipeline. We want to encourage new people into the industry, and our engineers and technicians have really enjoyed seeing young people getting as excited about engineering as they are.”
Employers can visit https://employers.tlevels.gov.uk/ to find out more about T Level industry placements.