Hire and Rental News - February 2018

20 HIRE AND RENTAL NEWS • FEBRUARY 2018 INDUSTRY NEWS WOMEN in HIRE Aimed at Year 9, 10 and 11 female students from Niftylift’s local community, more than 60 students and teachers attended the event, which was covered by BBC program, Look East. Providing opportunity to learn about career paths in the field of engineering and highlighting the fundamental role engineers play in our society, the afternoon included tours of Niftylift’s manufacturing facility, engineering themed activities as well as talks from Niftylift’s female staff members, who described their jobs and told personal stories of how they became engineers. Jane Harbige, Product Support Engineer for Niftylift and event organiser said: “Not many girls in the UK see engineering as an opportunity. It is our responsibility as women engineers to show if you are creative, proactive, enjoy problem solving or thinking of different and better ways of doing things, then engineering is a great choice for a rewarding career.” According to Jane, in 2014, one UK skills report placed the annual shortfall of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) skills at 40,000 1 . As of 2015, the annual shortfall was estimated at 55,000 2 . “At GCSE level, there is little difference between the number of boys and girls taking STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects 3 , but this changes as they get older. Around 20% of A Level physics students are girls 4 and at university only 15.8% Niftylift promotes women in engineering To help address the shortage of people with engineering skills in the UK and encourage more females into careers in engineering, Niftylift in the UK held a ‘Women in Engineering’ event at its world headquarters in Shenley Wood, Milton Keynes last November. of engineering and technology undergraduates in the UK are female 5 . By the time they start work this has dropped still further, with only 9% of the engineering workforce being female 2 and only 6% of registered engineers and technicians (ie: CEng, IEng, EngTech) being women 6 . To help fill this skills shortage, the UK needs to encourage more females into careers in engineering and Niftylift is committed to doing this,” Jane said. “Through events like its Women in Engineering Day, Niftylift is helping schools to promote STEM subjects to more than just the obvious candidates. By championing the creative aspects of the discipline, by enthusing and inspiring young females, Niftylift hopes Lifting the glass ceiling in hire – continued from p19 to encourage a new generation of female engineers to take their place in an exciting, vibrant and growing industry.” 1. Improving diversity in STEM, CaSE, 2014 http:// sciencecampaign.org.uk/?p=14146 2. Skills & Demands from Industry - 2015 Survey, IET www.theiet.org/factfiles/education/skills2015-page. cfm 3. Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents the seven largest awarding bodies in the UK, from: www.jcq.org.uk/examination-results/gcses/2015 4. Key headline from the Institute of Physics – ‘It’s Different for Girls’ research, 2014 www.iop.org/ education/teacher/support/girls_physics/page_41593. html 5. Women in STEM – facts and statistics (Reporting period 2012-2015), IET https://communities.theiet.org/ files/8042 6. Engineering UK 2015: The State of Engineering, www.engineeringuk.com/EngineeringUK2015/EngUK_ Report_2015_Interactive.pdf Visit: www.niftylift.com The event included tours of Niftylift’s manufacturing facility and engineering themed activities and the people working within it need to evolve too. There is so much room for equality, diversity and progress in this industry; we need to get the ball rolling. Q: Are there unique issues for the Queensland hire market? A: The Queensland hire market is so reliant on mining and more recently oil and gas so when it’s booming it’s really booming and when it’s flat it’s really tough. It’s not a consistent market; there is always one sector sitting in a peak while the other is in a trough. There are a lot of companies that have been doing it tough over the past few years which is always difficult to see. There are also the ethical issues that sit alongside these contentious projects as well. From an industry perspective you want to see money being invested, job creation etc, however when this starts to adversely impact the environment you question your own values. Women in Hire will launch on Wednesday, 30 May at a breakfast meeting during HIRE18. A keynote speaker will lead the inaugural forum while attendees will form the basis of the industry network. Women in Hire launch