By 
MID Ulster’s famed engineering sector appears to have not only weathered the Covid storm, but continued to flourish, with hundreds of workers still needed to fill positions in dozens of local firms.
It has also emerged that this need for workers has been the catalyst for a new university degree course – the first of its kind – due to start at Ulster University Magee in September.
The Manufacturing Engineering Growth Advancement (MEGA) group – which was unveiled in 2019 to address skills shortages and recruitment for the burgeoning manufacturing sector in Mid Ulster – have revealed that local firms’ biggest obstacle is still staff recruitment.
Aidan O’Neill who is head of the Education Committee of MEGA said, “Companies were unsure about what was going to happen post-Covid, but we definitely didn’t envisage our order books being so full.
“Manufacturing has never been as strong, order books are full, but the main concern is that we can’t get workers, both skilled and unskilled,” he said.
He said the jobs on offer were “on all levels” from CNC operators, welders, hydraulic fitters to administration and marketing roles.