Skills & Training in the Energy Sector

Safety and skills have always been and will be crucial for the energy industry and the people responsible for the design, construction, operation, and delivery of all forms of energy to consumers.

As the sector is starting to transition to cleaner energy sources and the involvement of artificial intelligence (AI) is growing, the role of the people and their skills and the transferability of these skills in the oil and gas industry to similar jobs in renewables are becoming even more crucial.

Safety and Skills Keys To Future Energy Workforce

Skills and safety, along with sustainability, have always put people at the forefront of the energy business. All industrial revolutions and now the energy transition have been driven by people, Alex Spencer, chief operating officer at OPITO, the global skills body for the energy industry, wrote in Energy Voice at the beginning of 2024.

In 2023, OPITO’s global network of more than 230 centres across 52 countries trained nearly half a million people to its standards.

"Many people in the current offshore industry workforce have the skills and competency to move effortlessly between different sectors of the energy industry," Spencer said.

“There is a great deal of hard-earned competency in our offshore oil and gas supply chain. From floating offshore wind and hydrogen to CCUS and solar, it will serve the clean energies sector well,” he wrote.

“Many in the current workforce already have the skills and knowledge needed to transition. But these skills must be recognised and transferred,” OPITO’s Spencer noted.

The skills body has already shown that remote learning and training also works, through a combination of virtual learning platforms, live instructor-led webinars, e-learning products, and video tutorials.

As the energy transition progresses, skills, upskilling, and training will be crucial to have talent transfer their competence and hard-earned skills to the clean energy industry and emerging technologies.

“The world’s population looks to the energy workforce to make life safe and sustainable. Delivering on this means retaining those hydrocarbon skills whilst nurturing the skills and diversity of the next generation,” says Spencer.

"To create a pipeline of talent, we must present a career in energy as an attractive proposition for our brightest and best young people."

AI and the Energy Workforce

AI and other new technologies could attract more people of the younger generations to the energy industry. Newer sectors use more AI and digitalisation compared to the oil and gas industry, which is the least advanced energy sector when it comes to AI adoption, according to the eighth annual Global Energy Talent Index (GETI) report for 2024 released by Airswift.

"As a mature sector with significant skills and sunk costs in traditional technologies, AI uptake will be slower than newer, nimbler sectors such as renewables,” Ian Langley, Chairman of Airswift, says.

"AI could help power the latest technologies from carbon capture usage and storage to green hydrogen, but these are still nascent and attract a small share of investment."

The report showed that AI is expected to boost workforce productivity and job satisfaction and drive demand for new skills across the entire industry.

In contrast to popular perceptions of automation replacing human jobs, 95 percent of energy workers expect AI to increase demand for human skills, particularly technical skills such as programming, software engineering and IT, and soft skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and creativity.

A total of 92 percent of workers believe AI will prompt them to acquire new, in-demand skills ranging from cybersecurity to creativity, according to the GETI report.

Amid accelerating automation in the energy industry, almost two-fifths, or 38 percent, of energy workers are already using AI or will begin to do so within six months, and 82 percent are optimistic about its impact.

Most workers, 74 percent, believe automation will boost their productivity, 60 percent say it will improve career prospects and job satisfaction, and 54 percent believe it will even improve their work/life balance by freeing up more time for family and friends, the report found.

"AI is increasing the demand for skills in the energy industry in everything from data security to software engineering" Janette Marx, CEO of Airswift, said.

“Meanwhile automating repetitive, logical tasks is unlocking the opportunity for greater use of human skills such as critical thinking and creativity, while freeing up time for workers to develop these skills,” Marx added.

Transferable Skills

Industry organisations in both oil and gas and the renewables sector emphasise the crucial role that a skilled workforce would play in keeping supply of conventional energy sources and accelerating the energy transition.

Many skills acquired in oil and gas industry roles could apply to job descriptions in roles in the clean energy sector.

In the UK, home to one of the most mature oil and gas offshore basins and one of the top offshore wind destinations, two major sector organisations have teamed up to support a roadmap for energy skills transition.

RenewableUK and Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) released at the end of May a joint statement, saying they had aligned on a roadmap for a prototype ‘energy skills passport’ to enable cross-sector recognition of energy industry expertise and training.

Delivery on the commitment to a ‘skills passport’ was set out in both the North Sea Transition Deal and Offshore Wind Sector Deal struck between industry and the UK government.

A cross-sector partnership comprising Offshore Energies UK, RenewableUK, OPITO, Global Wind Organisation (GWO), and representatives from oil and gas and offshore wind energy sector employers alongside government, trade union, trade and skills bodies, have contributed expertise to the skills passport project.

The focus of the passport project is on the alignment of technical qualifications and the mapping of safety standards, the creation of career pathways for relevant roles, and a mechanism for employers and employees to understand recognised standards.

The so-called ‘energy skills passport’ is intended to show both workers and employers how skills and qualifications can be recognised by employers across sectors such as oil and gas and offshore wind.

“The ability for workers to move smoothly around all parts of the energy mix, from jobs in the oil and gas sector to specialist roles in wind and other areas of the energy transition, can help preserve and expand the UK’s homegrown energy industry and speed the transition process,” RenewableUK and OEUK said.

Research commissioned by OEUK has shown that 90 percent of oil and gas industry workers have skills which can be transferred to new offshore jobs in renewable energy.

“The UK’s energy future hinges upon the expertise of our exceptional offshore workforce,” OEUK Supply Chain and People Director Katy Heidenreich said.

“A skilled future, secure energy, and a sustainable journey to net zero – that is what our people represent. That is what our people can deliver with the right support and cross-sector mobility.”

Jane Cooper, RenewableUK’s Executive Director of Offshore Wind, said,

“Offshore wind companies need to attract oil and gas workers with valuable experience and transferable skills into our sector. We will continue to work with a wide range of partners and colleagues from other organisations to achieve this, enabling highly skilled people to find new career opportunities in the transition to clean power.”

Read the latest issue of the OGV Energy magazine HERE