Who wants to be a Billionaire

Harvey Nash Executive Search | 110 Bishopsgate | London | EC2N 4AY
Who wants to be a Billionaire?
Shaping the future of leadership in engineering
Rob Lanham
Director, Harvey Nash
rob.lanham@harveynash.com | +44 (0)20 7333 1560
June 2015

Harvey Nash Executive Search | Asia Pacific | Europe | Middle East | Nordics | United Kingdom | United States
Foreword
The rate of change in today’s society is incredible with constant innovation driving new products
and services, which influence every aspect of our lives. Engineering is the powerhouse behind this
innovation where some of the most creative and exciting careers can be found for anyone
interested in making a difference to the world we live in.
Despite the UK's great engineering heritage, we are failing to inspire sufficient numbers of young
people, particularly women, to engage with engineering. This is a great loss and is happening
despite some excellent initiatives targeted directly at this issue.
Perhaps we need to look more closely at the role models young people are influenced by. A career
decision is not a one off, logical event made at the age of sixteen or eighteen but the culmination
of diverse influences to that point, maybe we need a wider game plan!
Ian Joesbury, Chair of the IMechE's Management Board and former President of Meggitt
Polymers & Composites
Introduction
Much is made in the UK of the decline of engineering talent generally, that the next generation are
not interested in either a degree or career in engineering and that the city now dominates the bulk
of the UK economy. Politicians and news agencies frequently refer to the ‘skills gap’ and the lack
of a balanced or diverse workforce within the industrial sector generally.
Is this an accurate portrayal? Does it reflect the reality, and if not, why aren’t those in a position
to influence the debate doing more to challenge these preconceptions and position the UK
engineering sector at the heart of Britain’s economy, driving future success and development?
A sector in decline?
Society as a whole, including politicians, teachers, parents and alike do not seem to value
engineers or the discipline of engineering in the same way that they did even 20 years ago. One
only need look at the composition of UK GDP to confirm the decline of the manufacturing
sector. That said manufacturing still contributes 11% of GDP, third only to business services and
retail and significantly more than the much fabled ‘City’.
Is it true that engineering graduates are leaving in their droves for the lure of potentially earning
millions in the City and is this “exodus” having a significant and detrimental impact on both the
calibre and quantity of engineers entering the industrial workplace?
The simple answer is no! Recent figures suggest that only 3% of engineering graduates went to
work in the City, whilst c.70% went on to work for a company whose primary activity is
engineering. So why does the perception exist?
Regardless of what the statistics might suggest I think we can all agree that the level of interest in
engineering is broadly on the decline with popular degree course including; Nursing, Psychology,
Law, Sport & Exercise, Computer Science, Business and Social Work. ‘Traditional’ engineering
disciplines did not feature in the top 10.
Academic studies have been written to try and ascertain why young people don’t want to become
engineers in the same volume as they once did.
The factors generally agreed upon as influencing this appear to be broad and wide ranging:
- high dropout rates amongst engineering students,
- a lack of female engagement (less than 1% of parents would choose a career in engineering
for their daughter according to an IET study),
- degree courses not adapting to the changing demand of employers or the interests of
potential students,

- a lack of visible, inspirational figure heads in the engineering industry
Status and the role of the media
How many people today reference Brunel or Whittle as their inspiration now rather than Beckham
or Bieber. The movement away from traditional icons toward the celebrity cult isn’t limited simply
to the field of engineering. Closely related subjects such as physics have suffered. How many
children or adults today have heard of Richard Feynman let alone be able to reference his
work. (He was ranked in the top 10 most influential physicists of all time, worked on the
Manhattan Project and was integral to the development of Nanotechnology).
There are numerous other issues that seem to affect interest levels, one of the most significant
being a perceived lack of status in society. This is perhaps best demonstrated by our common,
everyday phraseology, calling central heating technicians-engineers and the associated ‘blue collar’
status that the public place on engineering in general.
Another example might be Ben Thompson, the BBC’s business presenter who to paraphrase, when
referring to the job losses announced at Rolls-Royce in 2014 described the majority of the 2,600
staff to lose their jobs as “operational operatives…that’s blue collar to you and me.” Not only is
that hugely disrespectful, it is also not an accurate reflection of the reality. Many were highly
skilled professionals with countless PhD’s working in the design and technical functions which are
more akin to clean rooms than blue collar environments, but the perception for the public and
many potentially aspiring engineers is that the environment conforms to their view of an outdated,
manual industry, rather than being at the cutting edge of design and technology.
Pay & reward
Perhaps the most significant for many ambitious young people in their decision making is the
perception that engineering doesn’t pay well. This simply isn’t the case. The Times Good
University Guide of 2014 suggested that six of the top 10 highest earning subjects/first jobs were
engineering disciplines ranging from just under £30,000 for a Chemical Engineer to just under
£25,000 for a Civil Engineer.
A frequent counter to this is that many of these individuals although working in an engineering
company, don’t actually work in an engineering discipline, rather sales, management, operations
etc. Should this be a concern? My view is probably not. Half of the battle is often attracting young
people to study engineering as a discipline because they think that their career prospects are
limited to a very narrow functional discipline. I think we should be championing the huge range
and variety of professional opportunities that engineering opens up, retaining the best talent within
the sector rather than risk losing it to other industries.
The sector to promote itself
There is a strong case to be made for a step change in the way that successful public figures who
have a background in engineering do more to publicise themselves and the professional benefits of
engineering as a discipline. Think Branson, Dyson and Zuckerberg.
Behind accountancy (c.50%), engineering is the most prevalent educational background in FTSE 100
CEO’s with just over a fifth and yet we don’t see many CEO’s openly promoting the value and
benefits of engineering, and how the discipline and knowledge of the function has directly
contributed to their success. I grant you that at the moment the only time we see a FTSE 100 CEO
feature in the press is to be chastised over their remuneration package so many are choosing to
keep a low profile, or for that matter retire from the public eye to the comparative anonymity of
private equity and non-executive roles.
That aside, there is a good news story to be had here that could attract a new generation of
engineers to the discipline. A recent article in The Telegraph categorised the education/degree
courses of the world’s 100 wealthiest individuals, and the largest proportion with more than one
fifth were engineers, accounting for almost double the next most prevalent background; business.

What I find astonishing is not necessarily that this hasn’t been more widely publicised, although I do
think this is a missed opportunity, but that more hasn’t been made of some of the individuals who
are engineers and are household names and their breadth of chosen career.
Some notable billionaire engineers include:
- Carlos Slim, the telecoms tycoon and previously the world’s richest man is a Civil Engineer
- The Koch Brothers who make everything from toilet paper, to Lycra and Teflon have
mechanical and chemical engineering degrees
- Michael Bloomberg the Mayor of New York is an Electrical Engineer
- Bernard Arnault, the CEO of luxury goods retailer LVMH is an engineer
- Jef Bezos the founder of Amazon is an Electrical Engineer
- Larry Page, the co-founder of Google has a Computer Engineering Degree
- Sergey Brin, also co-founder of Google has a Computer Science Degree
- Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries has a degree in Chemical Engineering
- Thomas Kwok is a Civil Engineer and is now Managing Director of Sun Hung Kai Properties
I think most people would have heard of the Google, Amazon and Louis Vuitton, and yet I am not
convinced that many people would know their founders are engineers. There is an argument to say
what does it matter, but for me it is crucial in inspiring the future generation, demonstrating the
breadth of professional opportunity and what can be achieved with a background in engineering
that isn’t necessarily the perceived norm, i.e a boiler engineer….
The value of good careers advice
Countless studies have been written about poor quality careers advice. The Daily Telegraph wrote
an article in 2014 referencing a study carried out by Nestle that suggested that nearly four out of
five 14 to 16 year olds would consider a career in STEM related industries, and yet, over 50% of
them had very little insight into the sorts of jobs available. This is compounded by over 50% of the
STEM teachers surveyed admitting that they were ignorant of what industrial organisations looked
for in new employees.
The lack of specialist or appropriate careers advice results in many turning to parents who equally
do not necessarily know what opportunities are available for their children’s career. How many
parents have a real insight into potential career opportunities? How many could advise on
opportunities in digital technology, software development or engineering. As already described,
with less than 1% of parents wanting their daughters to pursue a career in engineering it is hardly
surprising that there is an acute skills shortage with only the male population to choose from.
In addition, over 60% of those surveyed wanted greater advice from those already in the industry,
with an emphasis being on a greater level of employer interaction in order to demonstrate
potential opportunities and inspire children at an earlier age.
The Telegraph article also referenced Greg Clark, the Universities Minister at the time who said
that “…there is a clear need to do more to inspire young people to study STEM subjects and enable
them to have the opportunity to access science and engineering careers”. Yes there is an
emphasis on government, parents and schools to better promote the values and opportunities of
the engineering sector, but I think there is a huge, as yet, largely untapped opportunity for
influential and inspiring business leaders to better engage with schools and younger children to
demonstrate the vast range of career opportunities available to them.
In addition, there is a comparatively new school of thought focussed on recognising the value of
creative skills, moving the focus from pure STEM subjects to include the arts and create STEAM.
The view being that creativity is an equally critical aspect of an innovative workforce and will
appeal to a broader range of individuals than has historically been the case with pure science and
maths based subjects.

Inspiring careers
Even taking in to account the changing focus of each generation and society as a whole alongside
the growth of the services sector, I think the engineering sector can do more to make itself more
interesting to children, teachers and parents alike and demonstrate how many of their current
social or personal interests could be well served by encouraging a career in engineering.
Below are some careers/challenges that require engineering expertise that many people may not
appreciate but all can relate to and some can be inspired by:
- The development of the next Halo or Grand Theft Auto video game
- The chassis, engine, software or aerodynamic design of the next Ferrari or Red Bull F1
- The prospect of working on the next Concorde or Space Shuttle
- The design and development of the next Eifel Tower, Millau Bridge or Crossrail
- Hardware or software development for the next IPhone
- The identification and development of an alternative to fossil fuels
- Build the next Burj Khalifa
- The creation of clean drinking water for the developing world
- The development of the next generation of cyber security to protect against terrorism and
data theft
- Website and app development, creating the next Uber or Candy Crush
- Sports statisticien a la Moneyball
There are global brands that actively seek out engineering students for employment, but who could
also act as the inspirational catalyst for many who are not yet aware of the breadth of career
opportunity available for an engineer, these might include: NASA, Google, Airbus, Apple, GKN,
Microsoft, Walt Disney, BP, JLR, Shell, BMW, BAE Systems, the RAF, GCHQ, P&G, Sony, Siemens,
Amazon, Facebook, JCB, Rolls-Royce, GSK, AstraZeneca, VW, Nike and Coca-Cola.
In addition to the great British (and global) engineering organisations, there are the 138,000 SME’s
that make up the engineering and advanced manufacturing supply chain. The likes of E-Leather,
Hardide, Biome, Heliex, Petards, Instro Precision and Reaction Engines to name but a few, all of
whom can inspire and influence the future generations of great British engineering talent.
The solution?
There is not a simple overnight fix. It will take every interested party significant time and effort to
change the tide, but one that I think is achievable. There has never been a greater variety of
technology at our disposal which requires engineers of all forms to continue the development of,
and yet the public at large continue to think of engineering as something from the Victorian era.
Much is already being done to drive this agenda forward, for instance; The Royal Academy of
Engineering under the direction of BIS, the IMechE, CBI and IET. However, it is clear that there is a
lack of a cohesive, UK wide approach to policy and implementation. There are currently 35
engineering institutes in the UK, many of whom are working toward similar goals and objectives,
but there is no single strategy or body to implement it, frequently resulting in fragmentation and
duplication.
Perhaps a single, national voice created from the existing institutions and key corporations could be
part of the solution. Bringing together the work already completed by the various bodies and
interested parties to identify and implement a clear and achievable strategy, one that has time-
based landmarks/goals that might include improved publicity of success stories & inspirational
figures and tackling gender diversity throughout the workforce rather than simply at Board level.
Whatever the solution, we must all take responsibility for spreading the message, demonstrating
how engineering impacts everyone, every second of every day from the moment our smart phone
wakes us up and we check Facebook for the first time in the day, through to the hybrid cars we
drive to the air conditioned office, the clothes we wear and the food we eat. An education and

career in engineering can impact the way we live our lives and can generate immense personal
wealth and fame, ultimately for the betterment of society as a whole.
Diversity matters: Advancing women leaders & the diversity agenda in
engineering and manufacturing
Diversity is a competitive advantage. Research shows that diverse teams perform better, reduce
groupthink, are more creative and better reflect their customer base yet, the majority of UK
businesses still lack diversity in senior management. This is particularly acute in senior
management and technical leadership functions within the manufacturing sector
By numbers
The UK has seen huge progress for women, doubling (23.5%) female representation on the FTSE 100
boards since 2011 however, the increase in the executive pipeline has yet to achieve double
figures.
Within engineering and manufacturing, there is a shortage of women in leadership and throughout
the pipeline, with businesses failing to attract at the grassroots. A recent report from EEF found
that women account for 23% of all board seats in FTSE 100 manufacturers, up from 19% in 2013 and
21% last year, but the increase has been achieved mostly by an increase in non-executive roles,
with female executives remaining unchanged at 8%.
Starting out at apprenticeship level, in 2012/13 women accounted for only 7% of the intake and
continue to make up only 23% of the manufacturing workforce. The sector is struggling as whole to
meet the skills demand. According to EngineeringUK, the UK needs to double the number of
apprentices or graduates (182,000 per year) to meet the projected demand by 2022.
The problem
Part of the problem stems from a lack of understanding about what the sector has to offer and the
out-dated perceptions of ‘jobs for boys’ and ‘jobs for girls’ that start as early as GCSE selection,
discouraging girls from taking up STEM subjects.
The Harvey Nash Manufacturing Leadership Survey 2014 found that British industry does not do
enough to promote the profiles and achievements of its leaders and needs to better market the
variety of career opportunities within the sector.
Part of the solution
Harvey Nash and Inspire (the unique business forum for senior women in business) want to launch a
campaign to close the leadership gap and increase the number of women and diversity as a whole
at senior level of engineering and manufacturing organisations.
We will do this by working in partnership with businesses, business bodies and campaign
organisations to:
- Help dismantle perceptions that engineering and manufacturing are industries reserved for
men.
- Increase understanding of what the sector has to offer and the requirements to access
career opportunities.
- Identify and nurture aspiring talent and proactively promote them for suitable
opportunities.
- Bring forward role models, both men and women, to inspire new recruits at all levels.
- Highlight best practice and share knowledge on initiatives to increase diverse
representation at senior levels and change corporate culture.
Through this campaign, we want to play our part in redressing the gender gaps in senior leadership.
Rather than reinvent the wheel, we seek to partner with organisations in this space such as the
IMechE, IET and WISE and contribute by sharing our expertise in recruitment and access to over
5000 board-level and C-suite women and leaders from all cultural backgrounds.

We aim to spark a dialogue in the business community that finds practical solutions to drive real
change and tap into our networks, Inspire, Aspire and Engage for insight, ambassadors, role models
and potential candidates.
Rob Lanham,
Director, Harvey Nash Industry Practice.
0207 333 1506
Rob.lanham@harveynash.com

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