The UK government has unveiled a national jobs and skills plan aimed at creating 400,000 positions in the green energy sector within five years, with plumbers, electricians and welders expected to be in especially high demand.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said the initiative would double the current clean energy workforce by 2030 and prioritise training for school leavers, unemployed people, veterans, ex-offenders, and workers transitioning from fossil fuel industries.
He added that companies awarded public contracts in the clean energy transition would be required to create good, secure jobs and support trade union recognition and collective bargaining.
The plan identifies 31 priority trades for recruitment and training, including 8,000–10,000 additional plumbers and heating engineers by 2030.
Carpenters, welders and electricians are also listed among the most urgently needed workers, with up to 8,500 new recruits required in each field.
Miliband said the strategy “answers a key question about where the good jobs of the future will come from”, arguing it would guide devolved authorities, colleges and industry on where to invest in skills.
He added that challenging the UK’s net-zero transition, as Reform UK has done, was waging war on jobs.
Unions including Unite and the GMB welcomed the plan, having long called for a clearer roadmap to support workers moving out of fossil fuel sectors. The government will also establish five new technical excellence colleges and launch skills pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire, backed by £2.5m.
Meanwhile more programmes will support veterans, ex-offenders and unemployed workers, while up to £20m in joint UK–Scottish government funding will offer retraining opportunities for oil and gas workers.
Research cited by the government suggests that many unemployed people already have transferrable engineering or technical skills needed in clean energy roles, which typically offer salaries above the national average.
