Published Friday 24 July 2026 · By the JustEng team
A busy week for UK infrastructure and safety policy sets the tone for our daily round-up — and much of it points to sustained pressure on engineering recruitment and vacancies across the country. From a Humber carbon-capture approval to another weak construction output reading, here is what moved and what it means for hiring teams looking to secure hard-to-find engineers.
Viking CCS approval set to lift civil engineering vacancies in the Humber
The government confirmed development funding for the Viking CCS carbon capture and storage project in the Humber on 22 July, a key step towards a final investment decision on one of the UK’s flagship decarbonisation schemes. The move unlocks a pipeline of pipeline, process and infrastructure works across the region. Read the announcement.
Hiring angle: Major CCS programmes drive candidate demand for civil, process and mechanical specialists, and this approval will sharpen civil engineering recruitment across the Humber cluster. Employers building teams now can explore our civil engineering recruitment service.
UK approves 1.2 GW of solar — more work for civil and structural teams
A trio of development consent orders added around 1.2 GW to the UK solar pipeline in early July, including a single 720 MW scheme. Large ground-mount projects require substantial civil, grid-connection and structural design input from consent through to delivery. See the details.
Hiring angle: The renewables build-out continues to fuel civil engineering vacancies and demand for structural engineers on mounting and substation works — a steady source of engineering jobs in the UK for candidates with energy-sector experience.
Construction output stays weak as the skills shortage bites
The UK construction PMI registered 38.4 in June, only marginally above May’s six-year low and well below the 50 no-change mark, as elevated interest rates and cost pressures weighed on activity. Yet forecasts still point to a need for more than 41,000 additional workers a year over the next five years. More on the outlook.
Hiring angle: A soft output picture combined with an entrenched talent shortage means competition for experienced engineers remains intense, and specialist headhunting is increasingly how firms fill niche roles rather than waiting on job-board applications.
Building Safety Act: remediation caseload keeps fire and facade demand high
The Building Safety Regulator still has around 279 live remediation cases, with an improvement plan to speed up decisions expected shortly, while a government call for evidence on built-environment competence runs until 12 August. The remediation programme continues to generate a long tail of assessment and design work. Read the update.
Hiring angle: Ongoing remediation sustains strong candidate demand for fire engineer vacancies and facade engineer jobs, where qualified specialists remain scarce and salaries competitive.
Consultancy M&A rolls on as Renew snaps up an engineering design firm
Acquisitive activity in the consultancy market shows no sign of slowing, with Renew’s acquisition of an electrical and civil engineering design consultancy among several recent deals reshaping the sector. Consolidation typically brings integration, retention and growth-hiring challenges. See the deal.
Hiring angle: Post-acquisition growth almost always triggers a wave of structural engineer jobs and design vacancies; our structural engineering recruitment team and structural engineer salary guide help acquirers benchmark and hire at pace.
JustEng is a specialist engineering recruitment agency headhunting hard-to-find engineers across civil, structural, fire and facade disciplines. Candidates can submit your CV, and employers can register your vacancy to start a targeted search today.