There is a lack of people willing to work for less-than-market-prices in every occupation. I'm not against encouraging people to become engineers or hiring foreigners. But there's simply no shortage if it is possible to attract engineers by raising the salaries you're willing to pay; you're just too cheap. And the side benefit of increasing prices is not only lowering the quantity demanded from employers unwilling or unable to pay market rates, but also raising the quantity supplied by enticing more people into the field with higher salaries.

>No, they mean there is a greater lack of engineers compared to other occupations requiring similar levels of education and therefore we should put more effort into educating and importing engineers.

Importing engineers is just poaching engineers from other countries. It's the same thing.

Educating engineers is a matter of compensation. Given a high enough salary people will get the necessary degree. The only other thing you can do is cut education quality and just let more people pass.