Building the modern chemicals workforce: from education to industrial readiness
Industry insights provided by Ian Stewart, Head of Regional Engagement, IChemE
What if the future of the chemicals sector depends not on more graduates, but on better-informed young people making subject choices with a clear view of diverse career paths? The skills challenge begins long before recruitment, demanding early engagement to build a workforce ready for the complexities of modern chemical industries.
The early talent pipeline: shaping subject choices and awareness
The skills challenge in the chemicals sector starts long before recruitment. Young people often make subject choices without a clear understanding of what chemical and process careers entail, limiting the talent pipeline early on. Many students still see chemistry careers narrowly, mostly as lab-based roles, missing out on diverse paths like regulatory affairs or process engineering.
While chemical engineering continues to attract strong interest from prospective students, with UCAS application numbers remaining relatively resilient compared to many other engineering disciplines, awareness of the chemical industries among young people remains relatively low. The sector produces high-quality graduates each year, yet many young people still lack a clear understanding of the breadth of career opportunities available. Campaigns like DiscoverChemEng with the IChemE are working to address this gap, but much more early engagement is needed to make the chemical industries a genuine first-choice destination for school leavers pursuing academic or vocational routes.
“Through IChemE’s DiscoverChemEng campaign, we’re working to help more young people understand the breadth of rewarding careers available across the chemical industries. Building the workforce of the future requires not only attracting talented people into the sector, but ensuring they have the opportunities, experience and support needed to develop throughout their careers.” Ian Stewart, Head of Regional Engagement, IChemE
To build a modern workforce, it’s crucial to inform students early about the broad opportunities and skills required, including communication, adaptability, and AI literacy. Engaging students before they narrow their options helps create a better-prepared, diverse talent pool ready to meet the sector’s evolving demands. This early awareness is key to addressing skills shortages and supporting sustainable industry growth.
Essential skills for the modern chemical engineer
The modern chemical engineer’s role extends far beyond traditional technical knowledge. Today, they must master communication to collaborate effectively across disciplines and industries. Curiosity drives innovation, pushing engineers to explore new solutions and adapt to evolving technologies. Adaptability is crucial as the sector integrates AI and digital tools, requiring critical thinking to use these technologies wisely rather than blindly.
Modelling capabilities enable engineers to simulate complex processes, enhancing design and operational efficiency. Equally important is gaining site experience, which grounds theoretical knowledge in real-world applications, fostering confidence and practical insight.
Education and training must evolve to nurture these diverse skills, blending foundational science with interdisciplinary learning, hands-on experience, and digital literacy. This holistic approach prepares engineers to meet the sector’s dynamic challenges and contribute meaningfully to sustainable, innovative chemical industries.
Bridging education and industry: pathways to industrial readiness
Industrial placements and graduate development programmes are pivotal in equipping future chemical professionals with hands-on experience and a holistic understanding of modern industry demands. These initiatives bridge theoretical knowledge with practical skills, fostering adaptability in areas like AI literacy, data analytics, and regulatory compliance.
A common challenge reported by employers is the lack of graduate experience. Graduates who have completed industrial placements are consistently valued for being better prepared to enter the workplace. However, placement opportunities are becoming increasingly difficult for students to secure, creating a catch-22 situation: industry wants graduates with experience, but there are not enough opportunities for students to gain that experience. Strengthening collaboration between academia and industry is essential to expand placement availability and better prepare graduates for the workforce.
Collaboration between academia and industry enhances curricula relevance, ensuring graduates are versed in emerging technologies such as intelligent automation and digital ecosystems. Professional training further refines competencies, enabling workers to navigate complex intersections of sustainability, automation, and compliance. This integrated approach cultivates a workforce capable of leveraging advanced tools while maintaining awareness of environmental and regulatory frameworks, essential for the evolving chemical industry landscape.
Additionally, while employers generally praise the technical knowledge of chemical engineering graduates, the greatest skills gaps often lie in professional skills such as communication, teamwork, stakeholder engagement, commercial awareness, and adaptability. Much of the additional training provided by employers focuses on these areas. Students and early-career professionals are encouraged to seek leadership, volunteering, networking, and professional development opportunities alongside their studies to build these essential competencies.
Addressing the mid-career skills gap
Beyond graduate readiness, many employers highlight a significant mid-career skills gap. Some of the hardest roles to fill require several years of industrial experience. As engineers progress in their careers, some transition into management, consulting, adjacent sectors, or leave the profession altogether. This movement can create shortages of experienced engineers who are critical for leading projects, mentoring junior colleagues, and bridging the gap between graduate-level and senior leadership roles.
This highlights the importance not only of attracting talent into the industry, but developing and retaining experienced professionals throughout their careers, ensuring the sector continues to build the expertise needed for future growth and innovation. Addressing this mid-career talent challenge is as important as supporting the graduate pipeline to ensure a robust and sustainable workforce.
Events like CHEMUK play a vital role in supporting the development of the chemicals workforce by bringing together educators, industry leaders, and young talent. Through exhibitions, workshops, and networking opportunities, CHEMUK showcases the latest innovations and career pathways, inspiring and informing the next generation. By fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange, CHEMUK helps bridge the gap between education and industry, accelerating the readiness of a skilled, adaptable workforce prepared to meet future challenges.
Imagine a future where every young person understands the vast possibilities within the chemicals sector before choosing their subjects, where education and industry unite to nurture not just technical skills but adaptability, AI literacy, and real-world experience. This is essential to build a workforce ready to innovate and sustain the sector’s growth. Stakeholders must collaborate now to broaden awareness, enrich training, and create inclusive pathways that prepare diverse talent from the very start.