Why we didn’t become engineers

It is all hands on deck when it comes to addressing the lack of the engineering talent in Singapore. As the news broke that the Singapore government was investing a whopping $90m to support more tech developer talent and to meet the demand for 30,000 tech engineering jobs by 2020, many have rejoiced and celebrated for this breakthrough. Finally, it is the recognition that the engineers wanted, that more resources are needed if we wanted Singapore to be a talent hub of innovation.

But it has led to a puzzling thought as to why there so few engineers in the trade in the first place. Are our institutions of higher learning (IHLs) not producing sufficient graduates to take on engineering jobs?

Engineering graduates are many, but where are the engineers?

From this article, the Minister for Communications and Information, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, highlights that out of 6,000 engineering graduates the IHLs produce each year, a significant portion of graduates do not enter the sector.

And why is this happening? To take this topic deeper, I interviewed five Singaporean engineering graduates who did not become engineers and asked for their insights, and whether throwing the money for training is sufficient to address the problem.

(For this interview, all names have been changed.)

Lack of good opportunities in a new industry

Alfred, 31, is a Bioengineering graduate from the 2010 cohort from the National University of Singapore (NUS). Bioengineering was a relatively new field then. While he was eager to pursue a career in bioengineering, there was a lack of suitable opportunities to engage in the design of medical equipment, which happened to be one of his interests and why he took up a bioengineering course.

Because of this, he did not pursue any bioengineering-related jobs and is now currently an executive in the financial sector. While he relishes the chance to be a bioengineer, he knows that his existing knowledge will be outdated.

He expects this problem to continue. “We expect the usual teething issues when you are the pioneer batch of a new industry, where employers and graduates are getting adjusted to each other. Usually opportunities are lacking in the beginning, and we should expect this to be part and parcel as Singapore launches new industries like the internet of things (IoT). It takes awhile before a new industry comes of age and job opportunities will build up over time.”

Lack of restrictions on foreign talent and a weak engineering portfolio

Bruno, 37, graduated overseas from the University of Cambridge in 2003 with an Industrial Engineering degree. He did not even consider an engineering job when he returned home. He is currently a supply director.

He gave this grim assessment, “Singapore does not have a strong portfolio of engineering products (e.g. building cars, trains, rockets), which require a high degree of brain work vis-a-vis simply just maintaining machines and executing technical process jobs. MNCs that choose to locate here in Singapore, may not park their most important IP-related work here with us.

Additionally, unlike lawyers, doctors, dentists, architects and other professions, there are no restrictions on new entrants to the market, hence depressing the wages comparatively when you have to compete with foreign talent.

Ending thoughts