SKILLS GAP RENEWABLEUK AN OVERVIEW
Owing to the Government’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions, the renewable energy sector has seen huge growth over the past few years but the continued success of these industries depends on their ability to resource existing and future projects with skilled workers.
NOT ONLY A CHALLENGE BUT A HUGE OPPORTUNITY There were around 10,000 people employed in the wind energy industries in 2010 – if indirect employment is considered as well, approximately 76,000 will be needed by 2021. This projected growth represents a huge opportunity to harness the enthusiasm that members of the public, and young people in particular, have for environmental issues and renewable energy.
THIS ENTHUSIASM NEEDS TO BE UTILISED TO INCREASE... • The number of learners choosing key ‘STEM’ subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) at all stages of education
• Awareness of the range of job opportunities and career pathways in the sector
• Opportunities for practical work-based learning, to ensure future recruits have the skills and expertise necessary to benefit the industry
INITIATIVES A variety of initiatives have been established across the sector to address the skills challenges facing the industry. As such, one of the ongoing challenges in addressing the skills agenda is to avoid the duplication of effort. The Renewable Energy Careers and STEM Guidance Accord and the Renewable Energy Apprenticeships Programme Accord, the UK’s first Sector Skills Accords, were launched by RenewableUK in 2009 to address this issue.
SECTOR SKILLS ACCORDS The Accords, which are currently being refreshed, are aimed at ensuring a joined up approach by bringing together senior representatives from business, skills bodies, government, academia and other stakeholder organisations, to secure long- term commitment to build on collaborative work on the renewables skills agenda and enable the continued growth of the wind and marine industries.
These Accords demonstrate the industry’s ability to work together towards a common goal to ensure that the future skills needs of the wind and marine industries will be met.
RENEWABLE ENERGY APPRENTICESHIPS PROGRAMME A proven example of this is the creation of the Renewable Energy Apprenticeships Programme which was launched by RenewableUK in October 2010, to aid the industry in nurturing homegrown talent. This led to the creation of the Wind Turbine Technician Apprenticeship in collaboration with the National Skills Academy for Power (NSAP), which is now in its third year. RenewableUK continues to work with NSAP on the delivery of this course and is supporting the development of a second apprenticeship pathway covering Installation and Commissioning expertise.
COLLABORATION AND THE SKILLS AND EMPLOYMENT STRATEGY GROUP The collaborative approach promoted by the Skills Accords, provides a basis for the work of RenewableUK’s Skills and Employment Strategy Group which focuses on strategy for novice entrants to the industry, particularly through schools outreach, further education, higher education, and apprenticeships, as well as looking at Human Resources and employment needs.
The Group is currently focused on engaging with the Higher Education sector and Professional Institutions to strengthen the link between course provision and skills gaps and increase the renewables content in Higher Education courses to improve awareness and understanding of the wind and marine energy sector.
RENEWABLES TRAINING NETWORK (RTN)
RenewableUK’s work on novice entrants is complimented by the work of the Renewables Training Network (RTN) launched by RenewableUK in November 2011, which aims to ensure that the skilled workers that exist in aligned industries at a more mature level, and those leaving the armed forces who have the basic core skills our industry needs, are able to transition across to renewables effectively. The work of the RTN is expanded upon in an accompanying article by RTN Director, Steve Green.
OUTREACH STRATEGY The Skills and Employment Strategy Group is also developing an outreach strategy to facilitate better engagement with schools and colleges across the UK and provide industry careers information through dedicated careers pages as part of the RenewableUK website. This is in addition to RenewableUK’s existing publications aimed at schools, colleges, and universities, which include careers guides and teaching materials for schools, to help young people learn about wind energy.
WORKING FOR A GREEN BRITAIN Reliable evidence is also key to RenewableUK’s work – Working for a Green Britain Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 were published in February and July 2011 respectively, providing current and projected employment figures for the wind and marine energy industries.
These publications are used to communicate to Government the skills challenges facing the industry. An update of this publication is currently underway.
HR NETWORK Recognising that Human Resources professionals will play a pivotal role in securing the future success of the sector, RenewableUK also facilitates an HR Network which provides a ‘voice’ for the HR profession within the industry.
The Network provides benchmarking opportunities for industry employers through a Sector Salary Survey and facilitates shared learning and networking opportunities at HR Network events, to help renewables HR professionals meet the shared challenges presented by the rapid growth of the industry.
Sophie Bennett RenewableUK
www.renewable-uk.com
www.windenergynetwork.co.uk
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