Why “Missing Engineers” Is Really a Leadership and Planning Failure

Introduction - Leadership and Planning Failure

In construction and engineering businesses, one of the most common phrases we hear is, “We can’t find enough engineers.” On the surface, this sounds like a recruitment problem. In reality, for most £500k+ engineering and construction businesses, it is a leadership and planning failure.

At Jones Financial Accounts (JFA), we work closely with fast-growing engineering firms where margins feel tight, delivery feels chaotic, and pressure keeps increasing, yet headcount continues to rise. When we step back and review the numbers properly, the issue is rarely a lack of people. It is poor workforce planning, weak forecasting, and a lack of financial accountability around resourcing decisions.

This matters because labour is usually the single biggest cost in an engineering business. When it is not planned properly, profit disappears quietly and consistently.

Capacity Issues vs Poor Workforce Planning

Many leadership teams assume capacity issues mean they need more engineers. What we usually find is that engineers are already on the payroll but are either underutilised, allocated to the wrong jobs, or pulled between projects with no clear plan.

Poor workforce planning happens when resourcing decisions are made reactively. Jobs are sold first, and engineers are “figured out later.” This creates bottlenecks, overtime, and rushed subcontracting, all of which damage margins.

From a CFO’s point of view, capacity should always be driven by forecasted work, not by hope. A business that plans labour based on confirmed jobs, realistic timelines, and probability-weighted pipelines will outperform one that reacts after the work lands.

The Financial Impact of Underutilisation

Underutilised engineers are one of the most expensive hidden costs in construction and engineering businesses.

If an engineer costs £55,000 per year and is only productive 70% of the time, the business is effectively wasting over £16,000 per engineer every year.

This cost rarely shows up clearly in the accounts. It hides inside wages and overheads, quietly eroding gross margin. Multiply this across several engineers and the impact can easily exceed £100,000 per year without anyone noticing.

This is why reviewing job-level profitability is critical. If you want to explore this further, see our related blog:👉 https://www.jonesfa.co.uk/blog/how-to-read-a-profit-and-loss-report-in-10-minutes.

Leadership Accountability in Resourcing

A common myth is that resourcing problems sit with operations or project managers. In reality, resourcing is a leadership responsibility. Directors approve hiring decisions, pricing strategies, and delivery commitments, often without seeing the financial impact first.

Strong leadership means using financial insight before committing to new hires or contracts. It means challenging unrealistic delivery promises and resisting pressure to hire “just in case.” When finance is brought into these decisions early, volatility reduces and margins stabilise.

Engineering businesses that treat workforce planning as a board-level issue consistently perform better than those that leave it to chance.

Using Forecasts to Stabilise Delivery and Margin

Forecasting is not about predicting the future perfectly. It is about reducing surprises. A rolling forecast that links engineers to jobs, revenue, and margin allows leadership teams to see problems early and act calmly rather than react under pressure.

At JFA, we build forecasts that show when capacity gaps are coming, when engineers will be underutilised, and how this impacts cash and profit. You can download practical planning tools here:👉 https://www.jonesfa.co.uk/resources

Practical Steps You Can Take Now

Start by reviewing engineer utilisation weekly, not monthly.

Link job schedules directly to revenue forecasts.

Make workforce planning a leadership discussion, not an operational afterthought.

Most importantly, stop assuming hiring fixes planning problems, it rarely does.

Key Takeaways

• “Missing engineers” is usually a planning issue, not a recruitment one

• Underutilisation quietly destroys profit

• Workforce planning is a leadership responsibility

• Forecasting stabilises delivery, cash flow, and margin

If your business feels constantly short on engineers but margins keep shrinking, it may be time to review planning, not headcount.

Wrapping up today's insights, tomorrow we simplify another accounting challenge.