BESA highlights importance of voting for young engineers

Young building services engineers have strong reasons to vote in the general election, according to the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA).

BESA’s NextGen Network, representing younger industry members, stated that the emerging generation often felt frustrated and ignored by UK politicians, leading to less engagement in the political process.

However, they have the most to gain from voting.

Curtis Armstrong, BESA’s group digital marketing co-ordinator, said: “We are troubled by the cost-of-living crisis, social inequality, lack of progress on climate change, the shortage of affordable housing for younger people, and poor rates of pay that make it harder to save for our future.”

Generation Z and Millennials less likely to vote

Armstrong added that the emerging generation of engineers is in a privileged position to influence key issues during their careers, making them keener than most to influence the election outcome.

However, pre-election analysis suggests that Generation Z and Millennials are far less likely to vote than Generation X and Baby Boomers.

Armstrong highlighted the many challenges the next government will face, including climate change, energy security, health and wellbeing, and economic growth or stagnation.

He emphasised the importance of voting to ensure the right people are in power to address these issues.

BESA’s role in political engagement

BESA has been working with other industry bodies and political lobbyists to pressure the main parties to commit to improving the UK’s existing 30 million buildings.

The association calculated that annual retrofit rates would need to rise from 2% to 5% to meet climate change goals and stressed the need to address “whole life carbon” to achieve the UK’s legally binding net zero commitments.

Members of BESA’s NextGen Network said their work is central to these issues and the health and wellbeing of building occupants through improved building ventilation design and maintenance.

BESA says this is needed to address poor indoor air quality, mould, and damp in homes and public buildings, which severely affect human respiratory and cardiovascular health.

Government’s role in addressing skills gap

The next government must address the skills gap in technical professions to ensure there are enough young people in the engineering workforce to deliver net zero and other long-term goals, according to BESA.

The Conservative Party’s promise to deliver 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year by the end of the next parliament is seen as a potential positive policy.

Labour has proposed a growth and skills levy to train existing staff in high-level technical skills and create 150,000 traineeships for young people.

BESA has long argued that degree courses should not be the default option for young people, advocating technical apprenticeships as a valuable alternative.

However, the association pointed out that employers would need much more financial support to take on the proposed greater number of apprentices