Marine renewables face skills shortage
The renewables sector is poised for near exponential growth as it becomes commercial.
The excitement and investment in the marine renewables market is great news for the UK marine industries, guaranteeing high numbers of UK jobs and a profitable export market.
The current demand for sustainable low carbon energy has seen a new market emerge with the UK at the forefront due to its enviable research and development capabilities. With the current Government promising to be the “Greenest Government ever” and commitments to deliver “measures to support marine energy”, the UK has a unique opportunity to cement a global lead in this market.
Great news for the economy, but what does this mean for the marine recruitment market?, asks Natalie Desty, department manager, Marine & Shipping, at Hampshire based technical recruitment specialists Matchtech Group Plc.
Demand for sustainable, low carbon energy, has enabled the development of a new market in marine renewable energy, including wave and tidal energy. Largely in the design phase, the renewables sector currently employs 800 permanent employees, however, is poised for near exponential growth as it becomes commercial, placing huge pressure on an industry which is already affected by skills shortages. Government backed investment in this area means that the renewables sector is attempting to confront bottlenecks in the supply of skills through cross-transference from related sectors of industry, with emphasis placed on candidates with marine and offshore experience. The rise of the Oil and Gas market and proportionately higher salaries will limit the effectiveness of this in the future, as will the rise of other rival industries competing for the same skills.
Additionally, the Government’s changes to UK immigration have added a further constraint to recruitment. The removal of Tier 1 (General and Post Study Work) visas are expected to have a massive impact on the marine sector and the UK economy more broadly, as graduate students from outside the EU are no longer eligible to apply for leave to remain and points based employer sponsorship rules tighten.
A definitive, proactive approach is needed by industry to identify new ways of attracting candidates and improve retention rates among existing workers. Employers need to engage with potential candidates through open days, careers fairs and dedicated seminars to attract new employees into key positions.
The Renewables Training Network (RTN) is attempting to answer the challenges set out above. It seeks to provide the opportunities for candidates to transfer from other industries and re-train in the hope to fast track ‘generalists to experts’. This innovative approach to combating a skills shortage may well provide lessons to other areas of the marine industry, especially those expected in the naval defence market over the next 10 years. These initiatives provide something new to the efforts that have been developed over recent years to counter skills shortages, especially within the marine industry. However with the pulls from other industries, coupled with the challenges of a changing visa system, only time will tell whether this is enough to facilitate the UK’s lead in this market.
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