Engineering firm Alstom is encouraging applications for engineering vacancies in its UK grid business, even if they can only do 70% of the job.

After winning a €400m (£320m) contract with an Indian company, the company is looking to recruit 200 new staff at its HVDC (high voltage, direct current) global centre of excellence in Stafford, with “a big chunk” of them being experienced engineers, a company spokesperson tells Recruiter.

However, such is the extent of the shortage of engineers with specialist HVDC skills that those that currently fail to meet all the requirements are being encouraged to apply.

“We will happily pay for them to get the training they need,” says the spokesperson. 

The spokesperson says the company welcomes applications from those from non-traditional engineering industry backgrounds, suggesting they could be engineers leaving the armed forces. 

The spokesperson adds that because of the shortage of engineers with the skills Alstom needs, a multi-channel campaign called ‘Become a HVDC Hero’ launched six months ago has been judged a success, even though engineers numbered only “in double figures” have been hired.  

“It doesn’t sound a success, but for the specialists staff with a lot of experience it’s actually pretty good,” says the spokesperson.