Employer Partners: listening to the next generation

AT ICHEME, we spend a lot of time planning Employer Partner meetings around the workforce challenges facing our profession. Skills shortages, graduate readiness, recruitment and retention are all familiar topics. This time, however, we tried something different.

Rather than asking employers to discuss the next generation of chemical engineers, we invited them into the room.

Hearing directly from undergraduate students, a recent graduate and a PhD researcher completely changed the conversation. It moved beyond assumptions and statistics to real experiences. Students spoke about seeking placements, graduates reflected on transitioning into industry, and researchers described navigating careers spanning academia and industry.

What struck us most wasn’t that employers
disagreed with what they heard – quite the opposite. Around every table there were conversations about how closely those experiences reflected what organisations were already seeing, alongside a genuine willingness to share ideas and learn from one another.

The session was a timely reminder that IChemE’s role isn’t simply to facilitate conversations between employers. It is to bring together different parts of our community, creating opportunities to listen, challenge assumptions and build stronger connections across the profession.

Sometimes the most valuable discussions begin not with the experts, but with those just starting their journey.