Enginuity – the charity focused on closing the skills gaps in engineering and manufacturing – has produce its Mind the Gap 2026 research report developed in partnership with SQW, quantifying the scale and cost of skills gaps across the UK’s engineering and manufacturing sector.
Enginuity writes:
The report examines workforce pressures across the sector and brings together evidence, analysis and SME perspectives to better understand the impact of skills gaps on productivity and growth.
Engineering and manufacturing are vital to the UK economy, but growing skills shortages and skills gaps are creating increasing challenges for businesses across the sector, particularly SMEs.
Commissioned by Enginuity and delivered by SQW in collaboration with Oxford Innovation Advice and Qa Research, Mind the Gap explores the scale and impact of these challenges, combining employer insight, survey evidence and economic modelling to better understand their implications for productivity, growth and the future workforce.
