UK: Renewables Workforce to Grow to 42,000 In Next Five Years
June 9, 2025
New research published today by the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) has revealed that the engineering construction industry (ECI) workforce deployed in renewables, hydrogen and carbon capture and storage could total more than 42,000 by the end of the decade.
The ECITB’s latest forecast reports that by 2030 the offshore wind workforce could grow to more than 28,000, an increase of 48%, while the CCS sector workforce within the ECI could increase by 144% to more than 3,750.
The hydrogen workforce could grow to more than 4,500, an increase of 195%, while the combined workforce across other renewable sectors, including onshore wind, solar, biomass, energy from waste and biofuels, is predicted to grow by 20% to total more than 5,800.
Roles most in demand across these sectors will include design engineers, project managers, project controllers, commissioning technicians, general operatives, electrical technicians, platers, pipefitters and mechanical fitters.
The analysis was done with ECITB’s Labour Forecasting Tool (LFT), which provides insights into workforce numbers across regions and sectors, predicting trends and potential future demand for workers in the industry.
The tool, which was first launched in November 2023, has been updated using findings from the ECITB 2024 Workforce Census and publicly stated timescales on 3,000 active and future ECI projects across Great Britain.
The LFT predicts that the biggest increase in demand for workers across the ECI in the next five years will be in the carbon capture and hydrogen sectors.
“The significant Census response rate enabled the ECITB to provide more precise, up-to-date data for the benefit of industry. It allows us to improve the LFT to help make better predictions on future workforce trends and labour demands in renewables sectors.
“The updates to the LFT reinforce the scale of the challenges facing the industry that were outlined in our Workforce Census Report, which revealed that 81% of renewables employers in the ECI are experiencing challenges hiring workers.
“We recognize that addressing skills shortages in these sectors requires a collaborative, multi-agency approach that includes employers, governments, training providers and the ECITB.
“So, we’re calling on all of industry to work together to help increase the pool of people joining the ECI, while continuing to train and upskill existing workers.
“By investing in the workforce, the industry has a fighting chance of closing the skills gap and ensuring it has the skilled workforce it needs both for now and the future,” said Andrew Hockey, ECITB Chief Executive.
