Andy suggests : “ Such an elevated level of consensus implies that the industry supports our strategy to address skills shortages and invest in essential workplace training , particularly as we strive to deliver the country ’ s net-zero and energy security ambitions in the near future .
“ This is what fascinates me ,” he goes on . “ We are faced with a highly contractbased industry with tight margins and little room for skills investment , so you could say it doesn ’ t champion development – but then 85 per cent of employers support our training levy . It ’ s an interesting one ; a lack of employer investment in training , what we might term , a market failure , means the ECITB is required to levy businesses , essentially making the investment on their behalf , but the statistics of support for the levy prove that the industry does care about skills development and investing in their workforce .
“ We need to iterate this message to newcomers and younger generations , with the vision of inspiring them to join the industry and showing them that it genuinely cares about and facilitates personal development ,” Andy proposes . “ This is especially important considering the two major challenges currently facing the industry – project uncertainty and skills shortages . “ Project uncertainty has led to a reluctance amongst employers when it comes to onboarding , due to reduced project certainty after the turmoil and volatility of the last few years . Instead of employing early , businesses are holding off until they win a contract , which is too late in most cases , to onboard and then upskill the workforce . This results in already-skilled professionals being employed , rather than new entrants or transferees from other sectors , which reinforces national skills shortages .”
Skills shortage solutions
A reported 25,000 additional workers are required to achieve the UK ’ s net-zero ambitions . Andy elaborates : “ With forecasted investment in green strategies , the industry is predicted to massively increase offshore wind assets , carbon capture and storage facilities , and decarbonise major industrial clusters and ramp up hydrogen production plants . There ’ s also a huge decommissioning demand in the oil and gas and nuclear power sectors , as well as new nuclear power stations under construction .
“ Whilst these are all great initiatives to meet the UK ’ s net zero ambitions , we cannot forget that we still need to repair and maintain our existing facilities to ensure a smooth transition from fossil fuels to renewables . The oil and gas market supports the fabric of our society ; you can ’ t just pull people from existing work without considering and planning around other infrastructure plans .”
12