Leaders from 32 of the UK’s top energy and utilities employers have launched a sector-wide Inclusion Commitment, to attract more diverse talent into the industry and better reflect the communities they serve
The Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership, led by sector employers, recognised in its Workforce Renewal and Skills Strategy: 2020 that its current workforce fails to fully represent the 65 million people it serves every day.
83% of the sector’s workforce is male, compared to 47% for all sectors nationally. Women, people with disabilities, the BAME community and under 24s have traditionally been under-represented in the energy and utilities sector.
To tackle this challenge, and to build a resilient workforce for the future, 32 employers have committed themselves to drive change and work collaboratively to attract, recruit and retain a more diverse talent in the sector.
Employing some 566,000 people across the UK, the energy and utilities sector will need over 221,000 new recruits to fill its expected skills gap by 2027.
The Inclusion Commitment aims to challenge the sector to act and think differently and hopes to inspire and connect with underrepresented groups, attracting new talent and ideas into the energy and utilities sector.
Nick Ellins, Chief Executive, Energy & Utility Skills Group said: “Through the inaugural skills strategy, led by the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership, the UK’s utilities and their contractors have set out their ambition to enhance the diversity of their workforces and be ever more inclusive.
“This new commitment is a framework. It starts the collective action to help the sector workforce better mirror the communities it serves and secure the unquestionable benefits that result from having vibrant, truly inclusive and diverse teams.”
Basil Scarsella, Chair of the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership Council added: “The Inclusion Commitment is an opportunity for all of us in the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership to develop workforces that reflect the communities we all serve and tackle the challenge of increasing diversity head on. We are very keen to share best practice and drive change through proactive, transparent measures.”
