The UK government will announce plans to increase the proportion of women working in the offshore wind sector and triple the number of highly skilled jobs, on March 7. The plan also aims to increase the number of green collar jobs in the industry to 27,000 jobs by 2030, up from 7,200 today.
Today, only 16% of the offshore wind workforce are women. However, with this plan the sector would more than double the number of women entering the industry to at least 33% by 2030, with the aspiration of reaching 40%.
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In addition, many companies are training young people to improve their skills, in order to be prepared for good, high quality jobs in the sector. In addition, the sector demands further action, which includes:
- An Offshore Energy Passport, recognised outside of the UK, will be developed for offshore wind workers to transfer their skills and expertise to other offshore renewable and oil and gas industries – allowing employees to work seamlessly across different offshore sectors;
- Further work with further education institutions to develop a sector-wide curriculum to deliver a skilled and diverse workforce across the country and facilitate skills transfer within the industry;
- Targets for increasing the number of apprentices in the sector later this year.
Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry, commented:
The move to a cleaner, greener economy is outlined in our modern Industrial Strategy as one of the greatest economic opportunities of our time. Working with the offshore wind industry, I want to ensure that women and young people benefit from this sea-change
This deal also aims to triple the jobs over the next few decades, in a time when clean growth job opportunities are growing, from how to manufacture a wind turbine blade to project managing the design and manufacturing stages of the development of a windfarm. Namely, the Offshore Wind Sector Deal is expected to describe how the government and the industry will increase apprenticeship opportunities with a target to be set by Offshore Wind Week in November.
Speaking about the new strategy, Amy, Group Lead at MHI Vestas Offshore Wind, said that it is exciting to see that the offshore wind industry is pushing to increase diversity and ensure that more women are joining the sector.
The UK will now work with industry actors to encourage more students into STEM education and training, as recent research has shown that almost two-thirds of 18-24 year olds would prefer a job in the green economy to one outside of it.
Finally, ensuring more diversity in the low carbon economy is part of the UK government’s commitment to create a fair workplace under the modern Industrial Strategy. During 2018, the government committed to increase the number of women in the nuclear industry to 40% and the offshore wind industry is also keeping up with these changes.