Demand for GEES graduates : Issues within the Environment Agency

Chris Thomas

Head of Business for Geoscience

What will I cover ? What does the Environment Agency do? What is the scale of our GEES related work,

especially for geoscientists? What are our recruitment and retention

issues? What have we been doing to solve the

problem?

What does the Environment Agency do?

Leading body protecting and improving the environment in England and Wales

Protection, improvement and regulation of air, land and water

Largest UK employer of hydrogeologists 2nd largest UK employer of geoscientists 11,500 staff - up to half ? from a range of GEES

backgrounds

What GEES related work do we do? Environmental advice, regulation, monitoring,

protection, incidents Conservation, flood defence, fisheries,

ecology, water quality and resources, land quality, recreation, air quality, planning

Field officers, technical specialist roles and supporting office based roles

What is the scale of the work?

~ 4,500 potential GEES related roles? 350 geoscientists 1200 field officers 160 science and research staff plus monitoring, hydrology, hydrometry,

geomorphology, land use, climate change etc

What are our entry requirements?

Generally, a good relevant scientific degree for all GEES related roles

Geoscience- traditionally needed a post graduate degree

Science/research- can need postgraduate degree

Further internal development training / experience before capable to work alone

What issues have we had with recruitment and retention? Geoscience

Reduction in postgraduate courses and suitable applicants

High turnover of staff especially after 2-3 years- pay related

Could easily attract graduates Increased need for extra specialist training,

previously provided by universities Spending £1.5M p.a on consultants to fill gaps

What have we done about it? Identified key capabilities for geoscientists

health and safety personal ‘behaviours’ core technical knowledge application of that knowledge to various

activities Developed linked training-internal and external

What are the results? 20% staff don’t meet entry capabilities 40% staff need supervision to do their work 40% staff under 5 years experience Significant gap in core technical abilities in

new recruits Gap in our internal training for these skills

What are we doing?

Link to UWE to develop modular post graduate course

Link to other universities for existing post grad. courses/modules

Reinforcing recruitment criteria with team leaders

Targeting improvement in core skills Developing a workforce plan

Conclusion Your recruitment and retention problems and

reduction in courses impact on employers Employers are having to fill in gaps in technical

knowledge of graduates We have particular issues in geoscience,

hydrology, civil engineering and land use planning

It is essential to raise interest in GEES subjects