Utilities sector unites to support apprentices in post-pandemic world

A total of 25 companies across the utilities sector have signed a pledge to support the development of apprentices as a key way of addressing skills shortages over the next decade.

The pledge is part of the Energy and Utility Skills Partnership’s (EUSP) Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy 2020-25 which sets out how utilities and the supply chain will tackle the 277,000 vacancies they expect across the sector over the next ten years.

EUSP warns Covid-19 is expected decrease apprenticeship numbers as available employer investment reduces. The partnership says it aims to maintain the “long history of investing in apprenticeships as a key part of our workforce strategy”.

“For us, apprenticeships are part of our culture. They offer new and existing employees of all ages, the chance to train, reskill and develop via paid jobs with high quality on and off the job training”, EUSP added.

Companies including Centrica, UK Power Networks and United Utilities have signed the pledge which promises to utilise investment in high quality apprenticeships, sourced from across society, as a way of addressing existing and future skills shortages.

The apprenticeship pledge is built around a 14-point framework:

• Reach out to those business sectors impacted by job losses, to offer available apprenticeships and employment opportunities
• Create the culture we need to attract the apprentices and workforce of tomorrow
• Build a workforce that is reflective and inclusive of the customers and communities we serve
• Encourage apprenticeships for the unemployed, from disadvantaged backgrounds and underrepresented groups
• Tackle the disparity in apprenticeship uptake between the asset owners and their supply chains
• Work with our supply chain to encourage equality and diversity within apprenticeships
• Give apprentices full competency and capability in a skilled occupation, with the transferable knowledge and behaviours required to progress a career
• Recognise apprenticeships for the value they bring to our businesses, and their role in building a future talent pipeline
• Collaborate as a sector to drive change, challenging ourselves to do things differently
• Inspire the next generation by promoting apprenticeships into our local communities and schools
• Embed apprenticeships into our people strategies with support and mentoring from trained colleagues
• Apply best practice approaches in our recruitment and selection and work together to highlight the scope of the available roles
• Ensure apprentices receive at least the national minimum wage and have the same employment rights as other employees
• Deliver safe, high quality and rigorous apprenticeships with a minimum apprenticeship length of 12 months, including paid ‘off the job’ training

Nick Ellins, chief executive of Energy and Utility Skills, said the announcement was “no quick pledge”.

He added: “The Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership has set out to make a positive difference to society and is making clear that its long history of investing in apprenticeships remains firm, with employment through this approach continuing to be a key part of utility workforce strategy.

“We are working together to create an inclusive culture, employ apprentices and build a diverse and sustainable workforce in a sector that is now openly recognised as a critical industry; pivotal to society, to the future of the economy and to solving the environmental crisis.

“Talented people can make a real difference here, and the employers have a strong pedigree over decades for nurturing talent through high quality apprenticeships, employing people from across our society from entry level to highly skilled.”

Eon UK chief executive Michael Lewis, who is also chair of the Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership, said: “Today’s announcement joins together a core pledge to apprenticeships that our partners share, with a framework of 14 approaches explaining how we will build diversity and inclusion to help as many people as we can into new careers. It is one vital  part of our wider strategy to create the skilled workforce needed to deliver the UK’s essential services and tackle the climate emergency. I would encourage employers across our sector to show they stand behind apprenticeships too.

“Because utilities have apprenticeships in their DNA, with a well evidenced history of nurturing talent through high quality apprenticeships and employing people from across society – from entry level right through to the highly skilled. Utility employers were in the vanguard of adapting to the new Apprenticeship Levy policy reforms, and my own company delivered some of the very first technical apprentices to graduate under those changes. They remain highly valuable routes into our workforce.”

The companies who have signed the pledge: