Chief executive’s view: resourcing the future

Viewed by some as dull and uninspiring, the power sector’s need to fill skills gaps will give it the opportunity to change this perception and highlight the dynamic and exciting nature of its developments.

The power sector, critical to the UK economy and pivotal to the delivery of the government’s energy strategy, is facing critical skills issues.
An ageing workforce, replacement and growth of electrical infrastructure, rapid advancement of new technologies and strong competition for talent in the marketplace will all have a major impact on the power sector over the next five to 15 years. If these issues are not considered now, the consequences could be dramatic for our industry in the future. Some would argue that if plans have not already been finalised and begun to be implemented, then it is already too late!
With manufacturing and the transport infrastructure reliance on power expected to increase as a result of the move to a low-carbon economy, we are seeing significant and increasing skills shortages at the technician and engineer levels. Within this context there are specific skills gaps around designers, planners, project engineers, system controllers and project managers. All this is taking place against a background of ever increasing demands for power and replacement of existing infrastructure.
By 2024, it is estimated that the power sector will need to have recruited some 50,000 new employees. Being able to attract that quantity of appropriate candidates is likely to be one of our biggest challenges. Over the years, the power sector has been viewed by some commentators and potential recruits as somewhat traditional, even dull and uninspiring. The current situation provides us all with a unique opportunity to change this perception and increase diversity in its widest sense through highlighting the dynamic and exciting nature of our future landscape and the development opportunities this will bring.
We will also need to increase the availability of quality education and skills providers to adequately develop the new employees. In tandem there will be a requirement to upskill our existing staff, while managing the loss of a large portion of the sector’s current workforce due to retirement and natural attrition.
Looking at the wider energy and utility skills sector as compared to only power, as many as 200,000 new recruits are forecast to be needed by 2025. Successfully sourcing this number of new entrants is possible, but only with an accurate view of how the sector’s industries will evolve and how policy, new technology, social change and even the climate will impact their development.
It is predicted that jobs growth could exceed 100 per cent of the current workforce in certain areas such as electrical engineering and wind turbine technicians. In addition, more than 50 per cent of the sector workforce and short-term contracts are now employed by supply chain companies, utility contractors and consulting engineers. A lack of consistency and standardisation in terms of identifying and measuring competence is further compounding the situation and is leading to an inefficient spend on skills.
The task is clearly complex – we need to meet low-carbon targets; we must continue to renew infrastructure and operating systems; and we must mitigate the impact of the sector’s ageing workforce. An integrated, proactive and innovative approach involving significant levels of recruitment, training and development is required so that we can successfully overcome all the challenges and deliver/exceed our stakeholders’ expectations.

Basil Scarsella, UKPN