Engineering companies on the hunt for talent

Evolving demand, fiercer competition between professions and increasingly complex projects update the demand for skills in the engineering market. Engineering proves to be more than a technical service: it requires multidisciplinarity and solid cultural foundations.

Alongside digital and specialised skills, companies are looking among freelancers for figures capable of integrating different knowledge, with a solid technical background and a high and transversal vision. Thus emerges the identikit of a hybrid, curious and adaptable professional. "Creative vision, digital mastery and a strong technical base": these are the elements indicated by Umberto Sgambati, president of Proger Spa, an Italian engineering giant that, with 800 professionals, is among the 100 largest engineering companies in the world. Sgambati emphasises that knowledge of English and digital tools is now essential, and that in international competition the winner is the vision capable of combining integration, innovation and Italian craftsmanship. "On the market, experts in digitalisation, mechatronics or Ai are going fast. And 'project management' is the watchword. We are looking for young people with digital in their blood: computer science and the ability to think in digital terms are precious commodities. But even more interesting for us are transversal engineers, with a solid technical basis, capable of declining their knowledge according to modern standards'. According to Sgambati, 'you need a solid base, beyond the surface, to have the cultural and mental preparation to cope with change. At the beginning of a professional career, it is not appropriate to focus on identifying a role, and drawing all the skills for that specific position, it is better to focus on the fundamentals to know how to evolve and change'.

Complementary is the thought of Francesco Gori, founder and ceo of Esa engineering, a plant engineering company founded in 1994, attentive to the issues of sustainability and energy: "The starting point remains highly specialised skills, increasingly vertical and up-to-date with respect to the evolution of technologies: from plant design to fire prevention, from acoustics to façades, from structures to vertical transport, up to sustainability and energy efficiency. The real challenge, however, is not only to develop these excellences, but to make them coexist within a structured and coherent design process'.

Francesca Federzoni, president of Politecnica, goes into detail: 'We deal with integrated design and the figures we are most looking for are also those least available on the market: because there are fewer graduates in these fields and they often choose industry over the free profession. These are electrical and mechanical engineers, structural engineers and plumbers. The age of the professionals is irrelevant in the plant engineering field, because we take care of in-house training; on the other hand, for structures and infrastructures we need people with a few years of experience'. In general, Federzoni adds, 'we are looking for exquisitely and traditionally technical profiles because our pillar is technical and managerial competence'.

Andrea Tota, country manager Italia of Hill International, completes the picture: 'In project & construction management,' he explains, 'specialisation is a requirement, as it is vertical expertise that guarantees quality of services. Moreover, freelancers are only involved in phases that require targeted expertise. "For example, experts are sought in scheduling or environmental matters, in bureaucratic and administrative procedures for obtaining permits and authorisations, or in areas such as plant engineering and geotechnics. From our point of view, however, it is crucial that the professional also knows how to plan and monitor time and costs: these are elements that make any expertise complete and truly distinctive'.