Record number of applications for Engineers Ireland titles
Sixty-eight per cent of engineering employers said their financial position improved during 2023, compared to the previous year.
Engineers Ireland continues to see strong growth in the number of applications for professional titles. With more than 450 applications made this year representing a decade-high figure, it demonstrates the increasing recognition of professional excellence across the engineering profession.
Professional titles such as Fellow, Chartered Engineer, Associate Engineer and Engineering Technician are trusted markers of an engineer's expertise, dedication, and commitment to the highest professional standards.
Chartered Engineer remains Engineers Ireland’s most popular professional title, considered a gold standard of quality within the engineering industry and is a significant career milestone, and highly valued by employers.
“Registered professional titles provide peer-reviewed and international formal recognition of members’ professional competence, skills, experience and training,” said Engineers Ireland director general Damien Owens.
“They offer a clear way for engineering professionals to signal their knowledge and expertise to employers, stakeholders, decision-makers and clients.”
A rigorous process is used to demonstrate an applicant’s qualification, experience, the projects they have worked on, and the impact they have had on their field.
Engineers Ireland is the sole authority competent to award the title of Chartered Engineer. Working within a myriad of industries from medical devices to digital technology and renewable energy, engineers are more in demand than ever, with an estimated 6,000 vacancies available across the sector this year.
Engineers have also risen to the position of Ireland’s most trusted professional, with a recent survey by Ipsos B&A concluding 92% of the public view engineers as “highly competent”, the highest result of any profession. Professional titles, and the exacting standards engineers are required to meet to attain them, help to build competence within the profession and, consequently, engineering’s reputation with the public.
A recent report, ‘Engineering 2024: A Barometer of the Profession in Ireland’, was launched as part of Engineers Week 2024, the annual campaign highlighting the diverse world of engineering to primary and secondary school children.
The engineering sector is optimistic about the prospects of the industry here, with 71% of engineering directors and managers planning to recruit engineers in 2024, a signal of confidence of growth. Sixty-eight per cent of engineering employers said their financial position improved during 2023, compared to the previous year.
The public also had a positive outlook on the sector, according to the report, with 86% believing there are plenty of jobs in engineering, while 85% believed engineering to be a financially rewarding career.
The report also found 75% of the public believes engineers are critical to combating climate change and biodiversity loss.
In 2023, 26% of all Engineers Ireland CPD events had a sustainability focus and, in April 2023, Engineers Ireland became the first organisation outside of the UK to be licensed by the Society for the Environment to award the Chartered Environmentalist title.
“Engineering is not merely a career, it is a vocation that intertwines with the very fabric of our nation,” said Mr Owens.
“It is critical to ensuring that our infrastructure, our economy, and our public services can support living standards and growth — from clean water supplies and safe buildings to renewable energy and new manufacturing technologies.
He added the Irish engineering landscape was teeming with opportunities, and demand for engineers in this country "greatly outstrips supply”.
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