The UK needs more skilled workers in the green energy space, but how do we get them? Mike Cooke, Managing Director at Vital Energi, shares his ideas.
A recent report published by LinkedIn found that the UK fared particularly badly in developing its green workforce compared to other nations. While UK demand for green talent grew by 46% between 2023 and 2024, the supply of candidates qualified in green skills grew by only 5.3%.
This is a significant gap to fill, but for those with green skills in the job market – you likely won’t remain on the market for very long. That’s because in the UK, the hiring rate for candidates with green skills is 72% higher than the overall hiring rate.
But while it’s beneficial for those who already have those green skills, there’s a significant cost to the ongoing skills gap. Research by financial services industry body and advocacy group, TheCityUK, suggests green skills shortages could come at an annual cost to the UK economy of £8.6 billion.
As an industry, we need to ensure we can deliver on our clients’ timetables of getting to net zero within the next decade and that means we must accelerate our efforts to develop the green workforce.
Changing our approach to recruitment training and development
Meeting the demand for skilled workers in the UK requires innovative approaches to recruitment, training and development.
Of course, demand will vary across the country and the types of skills required will also vary. The big cities will need heat network engineers, offshore wind skills will be in high demand in Scotland and the east of England, and battery specialists might well find the Midlands their best bet for a job.
But the transition to green energy is driving fundamental changes in the technologies being deployed – everywhere across the UK. This means we’ll continue to see the electrification of heat. We all know that in today’s world, that generally means we’re going to see a lot more heat pumps, be that water, air or ground source pumps. We’re now starting to see the deployment of large-scale electrode boilers, which are very fast reacting heat boilers using electricity, which will, in time, replace the gas boiler.
These technological shifts demand new skill sets, but they also create opportunities for career transitions from other sectors. We have individuals within our organisation that have come from a marine background, and today they run our plant producing energy from waste. One of our solar engineers used to be an events promoter in New Zealand, and now he designs and installs solar systems across the UK.
I believe the key to a successful transition isn’t necessarily previous experience in the sector, but rather the right attitude and transferable skills. It is very much about individuals who do want to make a difference and are willing to learn. It’s sad when I read a CV which hasn’t been tailored to demonstrate an overwhelming ambition or desire to work in a green sector job.
However, the sector faces significant challenges in meeting its recruitment needs. If we want to recruit in the region of 400 people, traditionally, we’ve seen recruitment fees of between £5,000-£10,000 a person, which adds up to a lot of money.
Facing the training challenge
While we are expanding, we find ourselves in a similar situation as the rest of the industry, with dual challenges. We need to recruit talented and enthusiastic people who share our ambitions, but also to train the next generation of talent to continue our mission to reach net zero. This is why apprenticeships are vitally important, while we have also found more success by having a team of in-house recruiters vs external recruitment.
The wider industry is taking proactive steps to address these challenges through initiatives like training academies and climate education programmes. I’d like to praise the National Energy Skills Accelerator (NESA), which this year launched its pilot online tool, Energy Career Pathways. The platform aims to better communicate energy jobs and career pathways, by enabling individuals to visualise their own route into an energy career and highlight the different routes and training available.
In terms of inclusion and diversity, I’d highlight the pioneering work of the likes of the Diverse Heat Network and District Heating Divas. These organisations are leading the drive to develop a diverse workforce and there is growing evidence their efforts are having an impact. In its 2024 State of the Nation report, POWERful Women, another professional initiative to create a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive UK energy sector, reported that women now make up 34% of leadership roles in the UK energy sector and occupy 32% of middle management positions.
The message is clear: the green revolution needs skilled workers from all backgrounds who are passionate about making a difference. The opportunities are there – the challenge now is ensuring we have the workforce to seize them.
