The UK needs more engineers, and it needs more women in electronics. With just 3% of electronics engineers in the UK being women¹ and 76% of engineering employers already struggling to recruit,² the pipeline of young talent coming through has never mattered more. It’s a challenge we feel we have a responsibility to play our part in addressing.
That’s why we recently partnered with Tameside College to offer hands-on placements for engineering students, giving them real-world experience to complement their studies. Our first placement student was Witchayada, known as Hana.
Hana joined us over four days across a four-week period, working in our SMT, Test and Stores departments, getting stuck into everything from testing assemblies on a test rig to learning the booking-in and kitting processes in stores.
Originally from Thailand, Hana was inspired to pursue engineering by her family and a love of creating things. When we asked what surprised her most about her time with us, she told us: “Electrica has lots of things to do and it is a really interesting place. Everyone is friendly and have supported me to focus and learn new things.”
Hana also shared that while her placement hasn’t changed her career direction, it has opened a new door. Electronics is now firmly on her list of university options, and that’s exactly the kind of outcome we hoped for.
It was fantastic to watch Hana grow in confidence throughout her time here. So much so that she’s already expressed interest in returning for future placements, and we’d love to have her back.
Sean Somers, Employability & Partnership Coordinator at Tameside College, got in touch to pass on some lovely feedback mid-placement: “Hana came to see me during an event to express how much she has enjoyed the placement so far. She is excited to continue and is really thankful for the opportunity.”
A huge thank you to our production team for making Hana feel so welcome. It clearly hasn’t gone unnoticed.
We can’t wait to open the door for more students from Tameside College soon.
- WISE Campaign, Workforce Data, December 2024, Available at: wisecampaign.org.uk/workforce-data/
- Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Skills Survey 2025. Available at: theiet.org
