We know that the transport, logistics and motor sectors are facing a shortfall of talent across all areas, but each has a lot to offer.
And these sectors are crying out for more females!
TTS is committed to improving the diversity of talent across the transport, logistics and automotive sectors in Northern Ireland and the sectors themselves are working hard to attract more female talent.
Women in Wheels NI invites you to an International Women’s Day event to find out about career opportunities in NI’s vibrant automotive, transport and logistics sectors.
We are very grateful to Antrim & Newtownabbey Borough Council for kindly agreeing to fund this event and we are delighted to have the following partners supporting with vehicles and driving instructors:
Venue: Transport Training Services, Nutts Corner Business Park, 15 Dundrod Road, Crumlin BT29 4SS
Date: Sunday 6th March 2022
Time: Between 1 and 4 PM
Registration for this event is mandatory and early booking is recommended. Activity participation will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
We look forward to seeing you at the event but in the meantime please join our Women in Wheels NI Facebook group to meet other women who are already working in a range of roles across these sectors.
Absolutely not! Whilst the automotive and transport/logistics industries have traditionally offered employment opportunities for predominantly male roles, both are currently working hard to attract more female talent.
TTS has created ‘Women in Wheels NI’ because we are keen to encourage people from all sectors of the population into automotive/transport/logistics careers. Through Women in Wheels we are actively encouraging more women to consider a career in these sectors.
If you are in doubt, please join the Women in Wheels NI Facebook group to meet women already working in these sectors. The Facebook group has a wealth of knowledge and information for any female wanting to learn more.
Our existing and past female apprentices and the women that work in the transport, logistics and automotive sectors tell us that they are not treated any differently to their male colleagues.
They consistently tell us that they enjoy being part of the team, they are treated fairly and equally and they love the banter that comes with being part of a mixed team!
If you have any doubts or questions about being a female in the transport or motor industries, join our Facebook group and ask one of our ‘Women in Wheels’ – a group of friendly, inspiring and dedicated women who are either existing apprentices, are recently graduated apprentices or are experienced women working in a range of role across the sectors.
Women in Wheels NI Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/womeninwheelsni
We know that the transport/logistics and motor sectors have a lot to offer. Aside from the excitement, variety, problem-solving and technology involved, these sectors are in high demand and so provide good long-term job prospects.
The motor industry employs 823,000 people and contributes £18.6 billion to the UK economy.
Due to the highly rural nature of many parts of NI, transport by car is the only viable option for travel and commuting. Without the motor sector we would not have cars that are safe and legal to drive.
The road transport industry employs 2.7 million people and contributes £124 billion to the UK economy.
Everything that comes into or goes out of Northern Ireland travels by road, whether it’s clothes, food, fuel or your online orders, so the career opportunities are vast and diverse.
Transport workers are essential in our everyday lives. The recent covid-19 pandemic showed the importance of transport and logistics and demonstrates that even when the economy dips, transport stays strong and in demand.
1.2m vehicles licensed in NI – all need maintained/repaired
150,000 goods vehicles and 3,400 buses all need drivers
A combination of an ageing workforce, lack of investment in apprentices after the last UK recession, a lack of diversity and the impact of Brexit means our sectors are facing a shortfall of talent across all areas. This means qualified transport and automotive apprentices, once qualified, are in high demand!
Once you enter a career in transport or automotive, there is plenty of opportunity for growth and advancement. Find out about the career path opportunities here.
Apprentices are also crucial in bridging the gap in future technologies in these sectors. TTS apprentices will increasingly bring skills that may be lacking in transport and automotive businesses in Northern Ireland today. We already train apprentices in hybrid and electric vehicle technology and are already looking to the future of hydrogen power, for example.
Additionally, women now account for 35% of registered car keepers in the UK and so are increasingly involved in car buying and servicing decisions. Many women feel more comfortable interacting with and asking questions of female mechanics and service advisors, so employers have a desire to hire more women.
With advances in technology in vehicles, ‘brute strength’ is no longer required for driving or fixing trucks and buses!
Today, automotive technology is moving more towards computers than turning spanners, and because of improving health and safety legislation, there are tools and equipment these days that make these traditionally manual jobs much safer. Heavy lifting is done by machines in most cases.
Automotive technology is all about solving problems as much as it is about the actual fixing and much of the problem-solving these days is done by computer-based diagnostics.
And driving trucks and buses is becoming more and more automated so the days of using muscle to turn a steering wheel on a heavy vehicle are long gone. Today’s drivers are highly skilled.
So, although transport, logistics and automotive are excellent career choices for people who like to use their hands, physical strength is not a pre-requisite.
It is of course part of the job to get your hands a bit dirty but today we call professionals that work on vehicles “technicians” rather than “mechanics” or “diesel fitters”. This is partly because, they are now working on huge computers rather than oil and grease ridden machines! And likewise, engines are moving away from petrol and diesel to electric and other fuel types which are much cleaner to deal with.
We can’t promise that you won’t ever get dirty – that’s why you’ll have overalls and other PPE to wear – but the job is certainly getting less and less dirty as technology evolves.
If you compare being a technician to other vocational career choices, it’s no different to a hairdresser getting stained with hair dye, a nurse getting bodily fluids on their hands and clothes or chefs getting covered in food!
It is no secret that the transport and motor industries are both facing skills shortages within their workforces. 68% of all large good vehicle driving licence holders in NI are aged 45+ and the Road Haulage Association estimates that there is a shortfall of large good vehicle drivers of up to 100,000 across the UK. In short, there are not enough qualified professional drivers to meet the demand currently.
While these statistics make for very worrying reading for the sector, it is good news for anyone that is qualified to drive heavy goods vehicles because drivers are in high demand so there are lots of job vacancies to be filled and good likelihood of long-term job security.
Each year there’s around 68 million bus passenger journeys carried out by Ulsterbus, Metro and Glider, and Translink typically operates around 1,200 buses in its fleet. But this is only the public bus service, there are many privately owned bus and coach operators across Northern Ireland too – somewhere in the region of 3,400 in total. All of these need drivers! This demonstrates the size of the employment market for bus drivers in Northern Ireland so there is good likelihood of job availability.
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