Tuesday 12 February 2019

Energy and utility firms sign up to diversity commitment

OThe chiefs from 32 of the UK’s energy and utility companies have committed to attract “more diverse and inclusive talent” into the industry.

The Energy and Utilities Skills Partnership, led by sector employers, have launched an ‘Inclusion Commitment’ to drive long term change and work collaboratively to recruit and retain a more diverse talent in the sector.

The companies include Anglian Water, Cadent Gas, Centrica, E.ON, National Grid, Siemens, SSE, Thames Water, UK Power Networks and Viridor.

The news comes as the Skills Partnership revealed around 83% of the sector’s workforce is male, compared to 53% for all sectors nationally.

It also found 17% of the sector’s workforce is female compared to 47% for all sectors.

It adds women, people with disabilities, the BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) community and under 24s have traditionally been under-represented in the energy and utilities sector, compared to national averages.

Employing around 566,000 people across the UK, the sector will need more than 221,000 new recruits to fill its expected skills gap by 2027.

Basil Scarsella, Chair of the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership Council said: “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.”

Additional Information

The 32 companies that have signed up to the commitment are as follows:

• Amey
• Anglian Water
• Balfour Beatty
• Cadent Gas
• Centrica
• Clancy Docwra
• Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water
• E.ON
• Energy & Utility Skills
• Essex & Suffolk Water
• FCC Environment
• Keltbray
• Kier
• Morrison Utility Services
• National Grid
• Northern Gas Networks
• Northern Powergrid
• Northumbrian Water
• ScottishPower
• Scottish Water
• SES Water
• SGN
• Siemens
• South West water
• SSE
• Thames Water
• UK Power Networks
• United Utilities
• Veolia UK & Ireland
• Viridor
• Wales & West Utilities
• Yorkshire Water