Encouraging more women into engineering and science-related roles is key to tackling the widening skills gap within Scotland’s energy sector.
Skills Development Scotland (SDS) has published a revised action plan in a bid to ensure a viable talent pool is available to energy operators in future.
The SDS document outlines several measures, including exporting more flexible work practices to encourage more female trainees, to put the brakes on the skills drain.
Other actions include improving promotion of Stem subjects within schools, increasing work experience and ensuring greater professional development and promotion opportunities for those who do find jobs.
The blueprint also calls for a greater focus on Modern Apprenticeships (MAs) as a way for young people to carve out a career.
The publication coincided with the third meeting yesterday of the Energy Jobs Taskforce, a body chaired by Scottish Enterprise chief executive Lena Wilson.
Skills and Training secretary Roseanna Cunningham, who toured energy services firm Hydrasun’s Aviemore precision engineering site yesterday, said maintaining and growing the energy skills base in Scotland was “crucial”.
“Recent months have shown that even the most significant industry requires support to protect jobs and investment,” she said.
“While we welcome the overdue changes to the North Sea tax regime announced by the UK Government last week, for some it is too late and jobs have already been lost.
“Improved skills are paramount to the next steps on oil and gas exploration with a number of new projects under consideration.
“We know that the sector will continue to provide high quality career opportunities for the next generation of young Scots.
“With the creation of Energy Skills Scotland, increased MAs and graduates in the sector and a variety of skills funds aimed at bringing more people into the sector we have come far.
“Today’s report has been backed by industry, education and enterprise and pulls together a range of actions to ensure we can plan for a prosperous future.
“We need greater awareness of career opportunities at a younger age, more energy MAs as part of our move towards 30,000 each year from 2020 and an end to the outdated idea that engineering and science is just for boys.”
Neville Prentice of SDS said: “For a long time the sector has had to cope with skills shortages, with companies reporting recruitment difficulties in a number of key disciplines.
“Taking the right action now will put the sector in a good position to face up to future challenges, and to capitalise as fully as possible on future opportunities.”
Hydrasun chief operating officer Bob McAlpine said: “Our future growth strategy depends on being able to develop and retain a talented workforce with the appropriate mix of skills and expertise.
“We see our future needs being met through a mix of training of new staff and development to the full potential of the existing personnel.”