More than 40 people from over 25 different companies joined us over a successful three days. Organisations involved included: Banner Chemicals; British Volt; Cadent Gas; Carbon Capture and Storage Association; InoBat Auto; Lanxess; National Grid; Northern Gas; Shell; Teeside University; UK Battery Industrialisation Centre; UK Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association and Warwick University.
The objectives for the discussions were:
- To understand the skills needed in the UK science & technology sector for the future low-carbon workforce and the challenges facing employers.
- To assess the current skills supply of people entering the workforce.
- To identify critical skills priorities and provide actionable recommendations for the sectors.
The participants involved were highly passionate and engaging, and great insight was shared. It was agreed that we need to develop the skills for the future with immediate effect. There were a number of challenges highlighted in discussions. As the UK progresses with industrial decarbonisation there will be intense competition for a finite supply of technical skills across a range of sectors and there will be massive overlap in the occupations and competencies required. Failure to meet the demand for a workforce with the right skills will affect industry competitiveness and productivity and will jeopardise our ability to hit Net-Zero commitments. It is now more important than ever that the sector is able to attract the skills it needs to deliver a low-carbon transition.
Next Steps
The second phase of the green skills project will see the outputs from the event combined with a wider literature review which will then be reflected into a final green skills report. The report will be launched in the New Year and submitted to Government along with our recommendations for policy development.
We encourage individuals or organisations to come forward to share any feedback or best practice.
If you’re interested in getting involved in producing the skills Green Print then contact us: [email protected]
