As in many other developed countries, the UK requires more scientists and engineers. Over the next five to ten years, the country will need an additional 2,217,500 engineers. The problem of finding young employees must therefore be urgently addressed, as the number of 16 to 24-year-olds will fall over the next two decades. At the same time, science and engineering as both careers and academic subjects are poorly perceived, with research showing a continuing decline in the enjoyment of science and math in year 8 (12/13-year-olds). As this is a particular problem with girls, the number of young women in technical professions remains low. The topic of further training is also becoming ever more important when it comes to leveraging new business areas such as tackling climate change. The UK, however, provides fewer further training programs to employees over their working lives than many other European countries.

Siemens UK has developed an integrated approach to education, skills and recruitment to address the challenges of increasing the number of science and engineering pupils in schools, colleges and universities and recruiting key engineering talent into Siemens. A key part of this approach is the annual Big Bang fair, which attracts growing numbers of students and teachers. Siemens and other organizations present technical solutions to students which inspire enthusiasm for science and technology. In addition, the integrated Siemens approach also includes the development and delivery of curriculum material to schools throughout the year.