Engineering graduates lost to City - graduate jobs

BAE Systems has complained that financial firms are poaching top graduates - who are needed to help boost Britain's engineering industry.

BAE chairman Dick Olver told the Daily Telegraph that the country's manufacturing skills gap cannot be closed while science and engineering graduates are disappearing into other sectors.

"We need more of the very good engineering graduates to go into engineering rather than the financial services", he argued, saying he hoped recent "banker bashing" after collapses in the run-up to the recession will make some plump for engineering instead.

Mr Olver argued some graduates are now looking to help the economy grow again by creating clever products that can be exported.

He warned that schools and universities need to act soon to produce more graduates capable of keeping Britain competitive.

India is producing 650,000 engineering graduates a year compared to Britain's 20,000, he told the paper.

In order to meet the estimated requirement for 970,000 engineers in Britain by 2017, at least 25,000 new engineering graduates a year are needed.

Projects currently needing engineers include the likes of Crossrail and next-generation nuclear power stations.