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Investing in their Future

Introducing Students to Careers in Engineering

Over two-thirds of UK students didn’t know what an apprenticeship was. We set out to change that.

The facilities management industry has an image problem that we want to change. People don’t know about the opportunities it offers, or they think it’s all oily rags and no prospects. This couldn’t be further from the truth!

As facility solution leaders, we wrestle with the resulting technical skills gap every day. As parents and community members, we believe every student should have the opportunity to see where their strengths can take them. Our UK team decided to step up to those challenges. Their survey of UK students found 60% of young people weren’t even considering a future in engineering or facilities management. 68% didn’t know what an apprenticeship was. Those numbers looked like an opportunity to make a difference, so ABM UK built the Junior Engineering Engagement Programme (J.E.E.P.), where students can see themselves succeeding with technical skills. The course includes full STEM lesson plans, experiments, and activities. From a pilot with 30 students, year two grew to reach 250 students in 9 schools across the UK. Now the J.E.E.P. teacher packs are hosted online by the Times Education Supplement and have been downloaded over 1,000 times.

Rather than bemoaning today’s trends in facility management talent, this team created a proactive educational tool that inspires tomorrow’s talent and shows students how technical skills are a path to success. How could your team take on a difficult industry challenge, and turn it into an innovative opportunity?