Addressing the engineering talent crisis 

Demand for engineers is surging, with large-scale defence programs (submarines, naval shipbuilding), major infrastructure (transport, energy, transmission) and digital/renewables growth contributing to what will inevitably become a war for engineering talent in Australia.

The talent pool is already under pressure. Demographic change, retirements, skills mismatch and increasingly complex technical domains make building a talent pipeline increasingly difficult.
 

Rather than defer thinking to ‘graduate pipelines’ only, the panel emphasised urgent actions now:

• Map your project pipeline: Conduct a rigorous review of upcoming projects, mapping specific talent needs 3-5 years into the future. This isn't about vague forecasts, but precise role identification.
• Identify and mitigate risk: Pinpoint the roles most vulnerable to scarcity – be it engineers with specific security clearances for defence projects or specialists in emerging fields like offshore wind or battery energy storage systems – and build robust mitigation strategies now.
• Leverage non-traditional talent: Bridge immediate gaps by tapping into the vast potential of semi-retired experts, return-to-work professionals, and those pursuing portfolio careers. These experienced individuals can provide crucial stop-gap capacity and mentorship.

The era of competing on salary alone is over. The panel highlighted a fundamental shift in what today's engineers value, reinforcing Querida Swinnerton's point that "as tempting as it is to think higher salaries are the be-all and end-all, engineers are telling us otherwise."
 

• Flexibility, purpose and inclusive culture now rank alongside remuneration. Simply paying more is not a sustainable strategy when every organisation is fishing in the same pond.
• Clear career pathways and exposure to cutting-edge sectors like renewable energy and digital engineering help organisations stand out.

• A compelling Employee Value Proposition (EVP) that articulates belonging, impact and growth is essential to compete. 
   

  
   

"As a country, we must accelerate the rate at which we produce new engineers and expand our talent pipeline to include more than just graduates," Ms Swinnerton said.

Potential strategies to help supplement Australia’s traditional graduate supply include: 
 

• Accelerating graduate development through structured rotations, early project exposure and industry-academia partnerships.
• Looking to ‘adjacent talent’ from software, electronics and other disciplines who can be reskilled for roles in systems engineering or grid integration.
• Strengthening industry-academia to align curricula with real-world needs, as demonstrated by Edith Cowan University’s scaling from under 100 to over 3,000 engineering students.
   

Given domestic constraints, recruiting engineers from outside of Australia will inevitably need to be part of the solution, however the panel advised this needs to be used sparingly rather than as a blanket approach.
 

• Balance global and local talent. "Skilled migration is not a silver bullet – it must complement, not replace, local development. Australia must both build and buy more engineers.”
• That security clearances required for some defence and critical infrastructure projects will be restricted to Australian citizens. However, by partnering with a provider capable of navigating the complexities of visas and compliance, organisations can access engineering talent from outside of the country. 
• A strategic immigration approach that aligns with sponsorship regimes and prioritises onboarding and retention is needed to enable industry to act.

In times of talent scarcity, the risk is that organisations may revert to “who we know” or become overly insular.

• Prioritise inclusive and diverse teams as a strategic differentiator that drives innovation and problem-solving.
• Maintain commitment to fairness and psychological safety for long-term retention, avoiding short-sighted hiring practices.
• Foster ecosystem collaboration to prevent ‘talent hoarding’ where major projects monopolise skills, leaving smaller or regional players at a disadvantage.
• On diversity, Querida presented a critical opportunity: "One of the engineering professions greatest opportunities is to more effectively retain female engineers." 
  
  She pointed to data within the Engineers Australia’s 2023 The Engineering Profession: A statistical overview 15th edition which indicated that while female graduate numbers are growing, long-term retention remains disproportionately low compared with male counterparts, stating "As an industry and as employers, there’s something we need to think hard on to shift, because Australia needs all of the engineers it can get."

Panellists dissected the unique hurdles facing key sectors, finding opportunity within the challenges.

Swinnerton outlined the domino effect, noting "Defence and critical infrastructure will likely experience the pain of the talent shortage first, but as more dominos fall, the messier it will become."

• Defence: citizenship/security clearance constraints limit the accessible talent pool.
• Infrastructure/remote energy: location (regional/remote sites) affects attraction and retention; lifestyle, connectivity and career continuity matter.
• Renewables/energy transition: rapid technology change means engineers need to be comfortable with systems, software and integrations not just traditional discipline boundaries.
• The upside: many engineering disciplines are converging. Organisations that embrace cross-discipline capability (mechanical + controls + software + digital twin + data analytics) will be in a stronger position.

At Brunel Australia, these insights align with what we see daily in our role as a specialist recruiter and workforce solutions partner:

• We are advising clients to act early as talent availability is shrinking and competition is intense across sectors.
• Building talent pipelines is as important as immediate hiring: mapping graduate cohorts, alumni/intern networks, return-to-work programmes, upskilling adjacent disciplines.
• Our international footprint and networks enable us to help clients access global talent, but this must be balanced with localisation, integration and retention strategies.
• We support inclusive hiring frameworks, helping clients widen the net to diverse talent sources, embed belonging-focused approaches and design retention levers beyond salary.
• For candidate engagement: engineers are increasingly looking for roles with purpose, challenge, growth and flexibility. Employers not only need to offer these things to their employees – but they need to make sure that they are compellingly articulating this to candidates when they are hiring.

If your organisation is looking to navigate the engineering talent crisis, here are three immediate actions to consider:

1. Conduct a talent risk audit: map out your project pipeline, identify hard-to-fill roles, assess attrition/retirement risk and model supply-demand.
    
2. Develop an Engineer Value Proposition: articulate clearly what makes you attractive in today’s market. Be sure to consider how the flexibility, professional development, impact, purpose and belonging you offer compares with your competitors.
    
3. Build the pipeline now: engage universities and training partners, develop graduate/returner programmes, widen the talent net beyond classic engineering disciplines, domestically and internationally.