Offshore Energies UK to launch research tool on energy workforce landscape

(WO) – Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) is set to launch a research tool which will provide governments, skills bodies, and the energy industry with enough information to ensure the UK has the right people with the right skills in place at the times and locations where they are needed.

The research was commissioned by OEUK as it was recognized that simplifying the skills landscape is a key element in the drive to make the UK a leading clean energy industrial power.

The data framework is called the Energy Industry Skills Landscape, and was commissioned by OEUK from Dr Christine Currie, an independent workforce and skills consultant for the energy sector.

It is supported by an interactive dashboard designed to help stakeholders visualize and navigate information about skills initiatives throughout the country.

The aim is to maximize the impact of current training programs and encourage collaboration so workers can be better directed towards skills development in offshore wind, carbon capture and storage, and hydrogen, as well as the oil and gas sector.

Katy Heidenreich, OEUK’s supply chain and people director, said:

“The transition to net zero will involve some of the biggest engineering projects this country has ever seen and it will involve significant challenges in terms of skill supply and demand over the next 10 to 15 years.

“There are currently more than 170 different organizations administering skills recognition and training, and this is one of the first projects to analyze and map them across the whole of the UK.

“Matching the skills of the workforce to new jobs in the energy transition will need co-operation between these organizations and newly created bodies such as Skills England, as well as the devolved governments, trade unions, industry, and academia.

“We must deliver high skilled jobs to achieve economic growth and we know that the vast majority of people working in the oil and gas industry have expertise that can be transferred to new jobs in low carbon alternatives.

“This research makes the case for an industrial strategy with a joined-up approach to promoting accessible skill and training opportunities at all levels. We look forward to sharing it.”