It was great to hear about the Skills initiative that was announced this month. On 11th October, 27 major organisations met at the House of Lords and pledged to invest in skills development, advancing the energy and utilities sector and their supply chain, to generate the required workforce capacity and capability.
The skills accord will be addressing 3 major issues in the industry:
- The ageing workforce; 1/5 of industry professionals are over 55 years old and approaching retirement.
- Due to lack of skills, 36% of Energy and Utility Jobs are classed as ‘hard to fill’ higher than any other sector in the UK.
- 14% of industry professionals are reporting skills gaps in their place of employment.
The Skills Accord is one part of the sector’s new approach to a strategic workforce, encouraging skills development in their organisations. The 27 organisations have each signed up to 5 commitments (as shown below). This is a great start to addressing the skills shortage in the industry, and we hope it inspires other organisations to follow suit.
