Germany's foreign-engineer policy is not there to plug the domestic skills gap however. According to Dr Koppel of the IW institute, there are efforts in place to retain older engineers for longer and to employ more women in the profession as yet, with limited success. Germany and Britain are both at the bottom of the table when it comes to attracting women into engineering. The picture may not be without its challenges, for Germany is a competitive place, but if Brits do brave the Channel, and come back, they will have acquired a very useful skill set from the world's premier engineering economy.