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No engineering jobs in Sheffield
Eh? Now I've not lived in Sheffield that long (although I'm originally from fairly close by*) but it seems to me there's plenty of engineering jobs here. There's still people making shit out of metal, I know a bloke that makes the tools that make the tools for others to make other shit, and there's still forges making actual metal for people to make shit out of. Ride round town, down the backstreets and look through few roller doors - Milling machines. Swarf. Metal. People making shit**
In Hampshire EVERYONE worked behind a computer***, selling a service basically. Nobody MADE anything!
There's also lots of building going on for then other type of engineer - The Civil Engineer
*My Dad was an engineer. He could (still can probably) make shit out of lumps of metal
** I paid £85 for a rear motorcycle shock spring then discovered there's someone in town that can custom make them for peanuts. Bugger.
*** Don't tell me you're a 'software engineer' because that doesn't wash. You're a computer programmer. Deal with it. 🙂
Unfortunately some people who probably only venture north to look at the scenery don’t see that there are lots of skilled jobs up here, it’s not a wasteland of knuckle draggers hitting things with hammers etc. One guy posted about there being no Engineering jobs in Sheffield!! Must tell the engineers I know over that way.
That was me (my quote and the earlier post about sheffield) if you read back.
Within commuting distance of me in Reading and working in capital projects for petrochems and power there's Bechtel, Jacobs, Fluor, Wood/AMEC/FW, ENI, Kellogg, KBR, Mustang and those are just the contractors, there's the operators as well. Probably 5,000-10,000 process engineering jobs.
In Sheffield there was a BOC plant and the incinerator, or Jacobs if I fancied a commute over to Manchester, so in the tens or hundreds if you include Manchester.
I'm not knocking the North, I'm from there! And I'll be back there working from Christmas till April making a TV show, which is being filmed there because the production company get's a huge tax incentive to work outside the M25. So that model does work.
Eh? Now I’ve not lived in Sheffield that long (although I’m originally from fairly close by*) but it seems to me there’s plenty of engineering jobs here. There’s still people making shit out of metal, I know a bloke that makes the tools that make the tools for others to make other shit, and there’s still forges making actual metal for people to make shit out of. Ride round town, down the backstreets and look through few roller doors – Milling machines. Swarf. Metal. People making shit**
In Hampshire EVERYONE worked behind a computer, selling a service basically. Nobody MADE anything!
Not knocking anyone who works with metal (even though you're knocking those of us who work behind a computer), but I'm referring to the the sort of engineering that involves letters after your name and sitting at a computer, not machinist, toolmaking or technician jobs.
Don’t tell me you’re a ‘software engineer’ because that doesn’t wash. You’re a computer programmer. Deal with it. 🙂
No, and thanks for the condescending tone, the most recent thing that got built and I designed parts of was this (which is ironically up north).
Don’t tell me you’re a ‘software engineer’ because that doesn’t wash. You’re a computer programmer. Deal with it.
So why isn't software engineering?
So why isn’t software engineering?
And what if I* was writing code <span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">to simulate what's going on inside that plant? </span><span style="font-size: 0.8rem;">I f****** hate fortran.</span>
Like Brexit, say the word engineering and some people want us to go back to the 1880's and make only stuff from cast iron because that (along with going blind and getting rumatoid arthritis from working in a forge) was somehow better.
When I look at jobs back in the UK, I would say 75% or more are based in the south east shit hole.
I recall seeing a program on the north south divide that stated 10 years after German re-unification, Germany had achieved greater wealth parity between the old east and west, than existed between the north and south in the UK. And lets face it their starting point was much worse, so it can be done, it just needs political will rather than just veneer projects.
First thing they should do is move parliament to an industrial estate in Runcorn, let the MP's see what their policies actually create. Maybe have a moving parliament that can only be located in one region for 20 years then move it on, and make sure it is only located in one of the poorest few regions of the nation.
In Hampshire EVERYONE worked behind a computer***, selling a service basically. Nobody MADE anything!
they created value and income though, probably without being subsidised either.
don't get me wrong its great to see manufacturing and have even spent a day shooting at Forgemasters and was absolutely blown away watching them squash massive glowing hot pieces of metal in that big hydraulic press they have but there is a lot more to this country than mass manufacturing, in fact i would say that trying to pursue that area is not sustainable but smarter more specialist industries is what we are good at. (all over the country)
When I look at jobs back in the UK, I would say 75% or more are based in the south east shit hole.
just for balance. ‘many parts of the north are a shit hole’*
* having pointed out the fact that the south, east and west had deprivation too it was only fair to remind those that like to bash the lower half of the country it’s not all wonderful up there.
Germany had achieved greater wealth parity between the old east and west, than existed between the north and south in the UK
Was digging for some data on this and came across some great articles on just how hard it is to figure these things out..
https://medium.economist.com/the-challenges-of-charting-regional-inequality-a9376718348
The Economist's best attempt..
There are parts all over the UK where the window cleaner does his round with a sander, not explicitly the North. And I believe Cornwall is the most deprived county? Could be wrong.
And I believe Cornwall is the most deprived county? Could be wrong
I think that's based on cost of living? I.e. it's relatively affluent but house prices are high and everything is a few percent more expensive than the rest of the UK. Whereas Scotland might have similar incomes and costs to buy stuff but cheap housing. And "The North" has lower incomes, lower prices and lower housing costs. (facts guesstimated).
Or to put it another way, building projects like HS2 may actually make Manchester "poorer" as the cost of living rises in proportion to the disposable income of people moving there from London but if it doesn't bring jobs with it then the local economy won't keep up.
And I believe Cornwall is the most deprived county?
Limited jobs and large numbers of holiday homes pushing prices up.
North/South divide is slightly misleading. Its really more SouthEast/North divide with other areas forgotten about.
Can't have always been the case. My great grandad was born in Bowe and was nicknamed Cock(ney). Him and his family moved slowly north over a few years through employment building reservoirs until he ended up in the Worth Valley and stayed there. My mum likes to think of herself as a proper Yorkshire lass and she doesn't have much time for that there London, but part of her heritage is as London as you can get. Perhaps we need lots of new infrastructure building in the north to tempt people away from the south east again.
They come down here, steal our jobs and all the can do is moan about the place... Sheesh...
Carefull Binners. PP might exile you down here as you only use a computer not real crayons so don't actually make anything 😉
*** Don’t tell me you’re a ‘software engineer’ because that doesn’t wash. You’re a computer programmer. Deal with it.
I've already dealt with it thanks.
I've got an (electronic) engineering degree, of which almost all the final year was about software engineering.
We get our programming done in India.
I would definitely consider moving somewhere where there are proper hills and more access to outdoorsy activities, but I live in north London close to were I work and don't want a massive commute.
There aren't enough jobs outside of London in what I do. The big proportion of all the main corporate offices of big companies are in London. Obviously they do exist in our others but they're more spread out and employment is more challenged as there is less competition
*My Dad was an engineer. He could (still can probably) make shit out of lumps of metal
** I paid £85 for a rear motorcycle shock spring then discovered there’s someone in town that can custom make them for peanuts. Bugger.
*** Don’t tell me you’re a ‘software engineer’ because that doesn’t wash. You’re a computer programmer. Deal with it. 🙂
Making things from metal isn't always engineering, it's fabricating. Engineering is design, it's about designing solutions to problems.
The majority of engineers (real engineers, not technicians, not operators) these days will also be coders. More than half of what you might want to do for a job has never been done before, and so tools that might allow you to do it, either don't exist or don't work together...sometimes your job is to do that first in order to address the real problem.
Making a spring isn't engineering. Designing the suspension that works with that spring IS.
Making a spring isn’t engineering.
You just push a button on a machine these days, they churn out hundreds per hour..
Designing that machine is a different matter...
I’ve visited London twice and found the whole experience rather depressing.
In the interests of balance I've found the north depressing more than twice. That's not what this thread is about, though. It's about economic migration and the long history thereof.
In the interests of balance I’ve found the north depressing more than twice
I visited Blythe Valley Borough Council several times in the 90's. Whereas Mitch the Highways Inspector was a hilarious caricature of Jimmy Nail, his boss was the most miserable person I've ever met, who took every opportunity to ensure I knew how much he despised my southern-ness in all aspects but mostly my wages of which he knew nothing about.
It was always cold too.
only fair to remind those that like to bash the lower half of the country it’s not all wonderful up there
Fair point.
But here is the Joker card, the get out of jail free, the argument winning card.
Our natural capital trump's your cash, every time.
Is he up there looking for a shop or a cinema or something?;)
Why do people want to move to the SE anyway? Too many people cramming into an area to get paid more more to pay more for services, goods and houses. Everyone is miserable, everyone moans about it but when challenged they just say “well I can’t get this sort of job in the north” - diddums princess, suck up your latte and quit whining.
Yes you’re right everyone who lives in the South East is miserable about that specific fact. The 8 1/2 million residents of London alone all hate it and want to move to Middlesbrough as soon as possible
Can’t we just put a massive magnet in the channel so that north moves down south? Would that help?
SE is where you go to get stabbed and priced out of housing by the Russian mafia and Chinese investors. Up North it’s grim and you marry your sister. The North West is where it’s at.
Incest and murder aside in the 80’s everyone I knew moved south for work as my home town was a desolate ruin. After 20 odd years I came back from various places and economically wise I’m sure I will never earn what the SE could pay but I own my own house and take lots of holidays and get to ride or climb in Wales or the Lakes probably 2 weekends out of 4. Incomings is all relative to outgoings in my world. I know plenty of people with interesting well paid jobs up North. Most people I know who live in London seem to do stuff in offices that I don’t fully understand or I suppose don’t really care about. The SE or more specifically London is an interesting bubble to visit once in a while but is there is nothing I want that I can’t get up North. It certainly has more money and always will but there’s more to life than money for me. Also Im not super career driven so probably makes my choices easier.
everyone moans about it but when challenged
i would moan too. i mean who wants to be challenged why you chose to live somewhere when the answer is that you like it there.
i’m amazed that people would willingly reside in Hull, but each to their own, there must be something going for it or people wouldn’t choose to live there.
Charlie: the moaning mostly seems to be from chippy northerners because those high skill/high pay jobs aren't available in sufficient numbers in the North. Apparently that's all the government's fault, and making it easier for northern workers and businesses to get a slice of that money by improving transport links is a terrible idea.
Suck it up, princess. Your Instagram opportunities on sheep-scattered hills should make up for it, or something.
Can’t we just put a massive magnet in the channel so that north moves down south? Would that help?
Wouldn’t work.
We dug out all the iron ore and closed all the steelworks years ago.
Chippy northerners?
It'd be pointless being chippy in the south as you don't have gravy or curry sauce 😛
Frankly, you're little better than animals
With regards to the OP, when I finished uni it seemed that every grad scheme I looked at was based in or near London. I never had any desire to move here, but you follow the opportunities.
I would definitely consider moving somewhere where there are proper hills and more access to outdoorsy activities, but I live in north London close to were I work and don’t want a massive commute.
There aren’t enough jobs outside of London in what I do.
Echoes my experience. Im based SW London, I can't MTB after work, but I can get to Surrey Hills or Wales every weekend. I would happily move North or West, but the majority of my industry is London or midlands, and Coventry doesn't appeal.
I could move away from London to do something else, but I enjoy the work, so I'll put up with renting in my 30s.
SE is where you go to get stabbed and priced out of housing by the Russian mafia and Chinese investors. Up North it’s [s] grim and you marry your sister. The North West is where it’s at.[/s] where you just get stabbed.
The immediate difference is the order in which you're offered a cup of tea. Down south theres all the formalities then tea, up north you can barely get in the building for a meeting without being offered tea by everyone you meet.
Except Rochdale, there they sent me away to move my car off the on street parking to the compound which resembled fort knox!
Ah, Rochdale. The most damaged, broken place I've ever seen.
I wonder if gross under funding, corrupt politicians, appalling under investment and the removal of pretty much every single opportunity for well paid employment has had anything to do with that?