Renewables sector 'faces major skills crisis'

EFFORTS to train enough workers to fill the tens of thousands of jobs expected to be generated by Scotland's renewable energy sector are aimed too low and do not address a swelling skills crisis at the senior manager level, according to a major recruiter.

Tom Hopkinson, managing director of renewables recruitment firm Taylor Hopkinson Associates, warned training schemes are currently aimed at the technician level, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find managers capable of overseeing complex areas such as offshore health and safety.

He said the industry must find solutions to the looming skills crisis before 2013/2014, when there is expected to be a spike in demand for renewables workers.

He cautioned that it was naive to believe North Sea oil and gas workers could simply be enticed over to work in green energy as salaries at renewables firms are far below those offered by oil heavyweights.

"We find it difficult to get people to accept the lower wages. In the oil and gas industry it's a contract culture. In renewables they are looking for permanent employees. To attract someone from a contract role to a permanent role is expensive - they are getting 600 a day on contract while renewables firms are offering 60,000 a year," he said.

Taylor Hopkinson Associates specialises in finding candidates for so-called "harder to fill" roles at the upper end of the management scale, but Hopkinson said it was becoming more difficult to source staff from Scotland.

"We are reaching saturation in terms of the available skills base in Scotland. Once we reach 2013/2014 then things are really going to bite. Unless we prepare ourselves then we could be in real trouble and we will then have to find other solutions, which will mean importing skills from elsewhere."

According to a recent study from trade body RenewableUK, more than one-quarter of green energy employers are struggling with these harder to fill roles, compared with 3 per cent in 2008.

Hopkinson suggested operators in the nine offshore sites set out by the Crown Estate should work together to identify senior management shortages as this will motivate a private sector training provider to address the gap.