Dame Ruth Cairnie DBE on Babcock, Defence Skills, and Building Talent Pipelines

Steph interviews Dame Ruth Cairnie DBE, Chair of Babcock International Group, patron of the Women in Defence Charter, member of the CBI Board and venture capital investor with a distinguished international career in the engineering sector. Dame Ruth talks about Babcock’s role as an international defence contractor and major UK employer, contributing an estimated £4.3bn to the UK economy, and shares her thoughts on skills, culture, and teamwork, outlining the wide range of workforce needs - Babcock will require around 8,000 more UK hires over the next five years - and how company is approaching its talent recruitment. Steph and Dame Ruth also discuss shifting perceptions of defence needs and a change in the understanding of nuclear initiatives, the role of the UK Nuclear Skills Charter, the importance of diversity, retention and progression within the workforce and the community initiatives Babcock are championing to support their talent supply chain.  00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro00:27 What Babcock Does01:45 Why Skills Matter03:04 Roles and Career Paths04:53 Early Careers Pipeline07:02 Supporting SMEs Supply Chain08:25 Nuclear Skills Push09:55 Defence and Nuclear Perception Shift11:59 Community Skills Partnerships14:28 Making Careers Tangible16:12 Skills Gap Challenges16:43 New Routes into Trades19:52 Pre Apprenticeships and NEETs21:45 Immigration and Resourcing23:04 Diversity and Inclusion25:05 Ruth Career Journey27:23 Facing Bias and Advice29:03 Final Takeaways and Wrap Up Get in touch with us at sospod@enginuity.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.