A new report by Robert Gordon University has found that the UK offshore energy workforce can increase by up to 50 per cent from over 150,000 in 2023 to 225,000 by the end of the decade with new renewable jobs outnumbering oil and gas roles if a successful transition is achieved.

However, the new report, Powering up the Workforce, also warns that if the rate of investment and activity in renewables in the UK does not increase significantly, at a time when oil and gas activities are in rapid decline, then up to 95,000 potential offshore energy jobs will be at risk.

Retaining the offshore oil and gas supply chain, its workforce and associated skills over the next five years will be crucial. This is because there continues to be limited capacity for the UK offshore renewables sector to host and accommodate the quantity of skilled oil and gas workers impacted by the predicted decline in the hydrocarbon sector until later this decade.

Professor Paul de Leeuw, director of the Robert Gordon University's Energy Transition Institute, said: “This report presents a range of workforce outcomes that could materialise over the coming years. There is a huge prize up for grabs and we want to equip decision makers – whether in government, industry or in individual businesses – with new insight to convert those opportunities into reality.”

The analysis shows that there is a workforce ‘goldilocks zone’ between 2024 and 2028 when the UK supply chain capacity and capability can be sustained, developed and invested in, so that the transferability of the offshore energy workforce is optimised. Key to effective delivery of this goldilocks zone will be rapid investment in UK capabilities to deliver a fast-growing programme of green capital projects, which in turn will help to realise ambitious goals for domestic execution of these projects.

Professor de Leeuw added: “The UK possesses all the attributes and resources to realise the ambitions set out in government strategies and forward-looking industry programmes. The report clearly shows that with the right interventions at the right time, the UK can achieve its strategic energy goals in reaching its net zero objectives as well as protecting and significantly enhancing workforce numbers in the offshore energy sector.”

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