Aura and Green Port Hull commissioned Energy & Utility Skills to undertake a comprehensive skills study of the UK’s offshore wind industry. The purpose of this study is to provide a deeper understanding of the nature and the extent of workforce supply and demand issues within the development, construction and operation of the UK’s offshore wind energy sector to 2032.
This study provides the facts that underlie some of the future struggles we will need to overcome. Based on the current project pipeline, we are going to need approximately 36,000 people employed in the offshore wind industry by 2032. To fill these roles, we are going to have to compete against other sectors to attract talented people, in what is predicted to be a very tight labour market over the next four to five years. Too few school leavers are choosing the subjects needed to work in an industry driven by technology, such as ours. The UK is already short of approximately 20,000 engineering graduates per year. We need to change that.
Our aim is to become a leading industry for diversity and inclusion. We want to be the industry of choice for women and Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic workers who want a career in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) sector. We will be proactive in ensuring more females progress their studies of STEM subjects post-16. Only 35% of post-16 females study STEM subjects such as maths, physics, computing or a technical vocational qualification (compared to 94% of post-16 males). This is despite females accounting for 50% of STEM students at GCSE level.
This study demonstrates the importance of delivering a sector-wide strategy to standardise education and skills training to support clear career pathways and qualifications for all levels across the industry. Education provision is fragmented and un-coordinated in the UK today. We want to make it easier for people to work within the industry and supply chain, and to transfer from other industries and professions.