Engineering and manufacturing
Engineers are creative and hands on. They design, create, test and improve all sorts of products and processes. From buildings in your local community to railways and aircrafts – bring creations to life as an engineer.
The impact you could make
- Solving the world’s upcoming problems using creative and problem solving skills.
- Responding to natural disasters, improving cyber security and developing clean energy sources.
- Designing driverless vehicles and spacecrafts for future tourists.
The opportunities within engineering and manufacturing
There are many diverse opportunities from aerospace and pharmaceuticals to food and fast-moving consumer goods production. This industry thrives on a global scale, so you may get to travel all around the world during your career.
Employment
There are 139,300 people currently working in engineering.*
Job availability
Between 2022 to 2025 a further 8,200 people will be needed to fill job openings.*
Job diversity
There are 4,821 Modern Apprentices working within engineering in Scotland.*
*Sector Skills Assessment 2022
The potential for an engineer is massive. You can take it wherever you want to go.
Andy
Head of Technology Development and Digitalisation at Booth Welsh
Explore engineering jobs
We’ve pulled out some of the popular engineering jobs for you to explore.
Some things you may not know about engineering and manufacturing
Scotland designs and builds more nano satellites than anywhere else in Europe.
Scottish Engineers are leading the world in harnessing tidal power.
The Scottish Space industry is growing rapidly and will need more than 3,000 Engineers in the next 10 years as Scotland prepares for the first European space launch from home soil.
*Scottish Space Strategy
What subjects to take
We’ve pulled together some examples of subjects that could be useful for getting into a career in engineering and manufacturing.
- Computing
- Physics
- Engineering FA
- English
- Design & Manufacture
- Maths
For most jobs, you might not need specific subjects. If your school does not provide all of these subjects or you're just unsure — do not worry. There are many more subjects you can explore by using the Option Choices tool or speaking to your careers adviser in your school.
What routes you can take
There are different options you can choose from after school. We’ve pulled together some of them to help you decide which is best for you.
Engineering and manufacturing industry partners
Discover some of the partners within engineering and find out how they’re contributing to the industry.
Scottish Engineering
Scottish Engineering supports and connects the Scottish industry to the resources they need to thrive.
ADS Scotland
ADS Scotland represents and supports more than 1,100 UK businesses operating in aerospace, defence, security and space sectors.
Space Network Scotland
Find out all the latest news within the space industry in Scotland.