The UK government has thrown its weight behind a new £2.8m training scheme to boost the number of printed circuit board (PCB) designers in the UK, following concerns that skills shortages are damaging the electronics industry.

The scheme, which is jointly funded by electronics companies and the Department of Trade and Industry, will set out to raise the profile of jobs in the sector and career opportunities for new entrants, as well as improve the skills base of existing designers.

PCBs are found in virtually every electronic item from personal computers, mobile phones and children's toys, but a lack of suitably skilled designers means that the UK is losing its edge as a centre of excellence in this field.

The shortage is further aggravated by the ageing profile of the workplace, and a lack of new entrants into the industry due to poor perception and low salary levels.

Speaking at the launch, ecommerce minister Douglas Alexander explained that the development of a skills base was vital to ensuring that the UK retained its position as a major global player in the electronics market.

"Our challenge is to move the UK further up the value chain in software engineering. One of our difficulties has been making sure we have the right people with the right skills to do that," he said.

Six educational establishments, including Napier University in Edinburgh and the University of East London, have been charged with training 500 new PCB designers by 2006 and retraining more than 200 existing designers.

Willie Campbell, director of the Electronic Design Realisation Centre set up by the Federation of the Electronics Industry, warned that dramatic changes in the role of PCB designers, combined with shorter product lifecycles, shrinking margins and a greater complexity of products, was driving demand for a new breed of designer.

"There are good people out there but they don't have broad enough skill sets and they don't have the academic skills that industry is looking for," he said.

Martin Cotton, a director of design engineering at electronics manufacturing services specialist Viasystems Group, said that the establishment of a recognisable career path in the industry would also go some way to addressing an image problem in the industry.

"The industry has to take some control for creating a profile for PCB design and designers," he concluded.