National Careers Week 2026: Celebrating Our Industrial Past – How You Can Continue Greater Manchester’s Story With a Career in Engineering and Manufacturing
Something many people don’t realise about Greater Manchester is that it wasn’t just important during the Industrial Revolution, it was actually the first industrial city in the world!
Those famous worker bees you see across the city? These are a symbol of the thousands of Mancunians that worked hard during the Industrial Revolution. They all came together to make the city what it is now.
What’s Greater Manchester’s industrial story?
Fast-forward to today, Greater Manchester has transformed into a city region full of advanced engineering, cutting-edge manufacturing and new technology that is shaping the future.
The region produces aerospace components, medicines, textiles, robotics, and yes even the cereal in your cupboard!
It’s also where many major brands call home, like Kellogg’s, Siemens, Heinz and THG. These are just some of the companies based in Greater Manchester, companies that are known across the world.
But behind these massive brands is a huge community of skilled people keeping everything moving, with approximately 8-9% of the population of region working in manufacturing as of 2025. That means, there’s lots of jobs to be had!
How could you fit in?
If you enjoy problem-solving, building and fixing things, understanding how the world works, or studying STEM or design subjects, then manufacturing could be the path for you.
There are so many different roles that exist in the world on manufacturing, it all depends on what you’d like to do.
Some roles that we’ve highlighted are:
- Production designers, who design how products work
- Machine operators, who keep machines running safely
- Manufacturing engineers, who help to build and fix machines
Perhaps you know that you want to work in manufacturing, but you’re not sure what job you’d like to do just yet. If that is the case, researching routes into the industry is a great place to start.
What educational options do I choose if I want a career in Manufacturing?
There are so many ways to get your career in manufacturing started. Technical educational courses are a particularly popular way to get started.
Unsure of what technical education is? Check out our blog on technical education to get informed.
If doing a T Level interests you, a course that could help start a career in manufacturing is Design and Development for Engineering and Manufacturing.
It’s 2-year program that offers you the opportunity to cover a wide range of different topics in engineering and manufacturing and provides you with a 45-day placement to gain industry experience.
Maybe an apprenticeship is something you’ve considered. The option to earn while you learn and gain real life experience can be really useful to someone beginning their career. The appeal of an apprenticeship is that it can be specific to a certain role or multi-disciplinary.
Whether you want to train in a particular role like Mechanical Fitter or Welder, or you’d rather keep your options broader and opt for a course that covers a range of engineering or manufacturing skills, there a plenty of different options.
The best thing about these courses is that they give you to skills to continue your development in the workplace or possibly carry on your educational journey. The choice is yours.
Check out our T Levels and Apprenticeships pages to discover more. You’ll find inspiration for your future career and how technical education can get you there.
Greater Manchester’s industrial future
The industrial story of Greater Manchester continues to this day.
As a constantly evolving industry, the world of engineering and manufacturing is always in need of fresh talent who can bring something new. Maybe this is you?
To be a part of Greater Manchester’s Industrial Future, use Beeline to explore the Engineering and Manufacturing gateway.
