With the East of England playing a critical role in the UK’s drive towards net zero, how is the region’s energy workforce shaping up for the next 25 years?

We hear about the opportunities and challenges facing the sector as it looks ahead to 2050.

The skills gap

Wayne Stannett revived the former EAGIT into REAGIT, which is working with Swarm Training to radically change the delivery of manufacturing, maintenance, welding and fabrication training to enable work-ready apprentices to join businesses as a “useful resource”.

“The skills gap is not someone else’s problem – it is all of our issue and together is the only way that we can make the changes needed,” said Wayne. “There needs to be support from government to ensure that apprenticeships and vocational pathways are given the kudos that they deserve – especially within the school systems.

“According to the ONS, less than 35% of the roles identified within the skills gap require a level six degree or above qualification – meaning that the remainder can and will be filled by the further education and post-16 colleges, sixth forms and independent training providers.

“If we as a nation do not get a grip on the skills gap, we truly face an uncertain future that – at its very worst – could see businesses being forced to relocate out of the country to where skilled workforces are ready, waiting and prepared.”

Wayne Stannett, owner of REAGIT (Image: REAGIT)

To be fit for purpose in 2050, Wayne believes the education and training landscape needs to focus on a three-tiered, post-16 model.

Those destined for university would follow the A Level route via sixth forms and university technical colleges; those looking to understand their ‘chosen’ career path follow the general education pathway through further education colleges; and those dedicated to their choice of trades or vocationally focused careers follow a technical route through an apprenticeship delivered by dedicated independent training providers.

“The need for training over the next 25 years is going to grow exponentially based on trends emerging within the energy sector,” said Wayne.

“The energy sector needs a consolidated effort to meet this demand, a joining of forces to include education providers of all types and employers of all sizes, and better education provided to parents of the next generation to ensure that the true extent of the opportunities is realised.”

Cultural change in health and wellbeing

Gorleston-based doctor Amy Kingston, who owns Tide Medical, said employers must unite in recognising that poor mental health and wellbeing concerns in the workplace should be a basic requirement.

“Sooner rather than later, we need to see a culture change. What I see as a fundamental need in 2026 is often still viewed as an ‘add on’ or a tick box. This shouldn’t be the case.

“As the industry develops and grows, so will the pressure on individuals, the rate of absenteeism and the costs to a business in time and money.”

Dr Amy Kingston, owner of Tide Medical (Image: Tide Medical)

Colleague Lee Duguay, who is a solution focused therapist, agrees: “When wellbeing is approached as part of everyday organisational culture, rather than only something to deal with in a crisis, it creates a healthier environment for staff and a stronger, more sustainable organisation overall.”

At Tide Medical, Amy has developed a year-long mental health cultural change programme designed to move organisations beyond reactive crisis management, working with senior leadership and frontline teams to identify key wellbeing pressures, embed sustainable cultural adjustments within existing business structures and deliver advanced mental health training where it has real impact.

The result is not simply legal compliance, but measurable organisational resilience, said Amy.

“It’s vital to foster a supportive environment where employees feel valued, heard and able to balance their workload,” she said.

Lee Duguay, solution focused therapist at Tide Medical (Image: Tide Medical)

Creating an inclusive environment

With an increased workforce comes the need for culture change on workplace inclusion.

Caroline Burgess, enablement manager at EDF, would like to see a 2050 workforce as an inclusive environment with no need to talk about equality and diversity.

“Hopefully we will be over the issues with female presence in the workplace and be moving onto neurodiversity in the coming years,” she said.

“I would like to see us put as much focus on other inclusivity areas as we now do on gender diversity. To be truly diverse, we need to create an inclusive environment, and that is what I would like to see us focusing on.”

Caroline said EDF’s leadership cohort shows there are more females coming through. And while there’s still more to do, she highlighted that if too much emphasis is put on this, it almost starts to become a disadvantage.

Caroline Burgess, enablement manager for EDF at Sizewell B (Image: EDF)

“I’ve heard ‘well, she only got that because she was a woman’. I am sure in the past there was a lot of times being a woman counted against her getting the job. It is about the best person for the job and how do we make those jobs appealing to all areas and all genders?”

Role modelling and demonstrating the variety of careers in an engineering environment shows the opportunities to potential industry new entrants.

“I have worked in engineering all my life and never picked up a spanner, so how do we demonstrate and showcase all the careers you can have in the energy industry that don’t involve picking up a spanner?,” said Caroline.

“My favourite phrase I like to refer to came from a very inspirational female manager I had many years ago. In this changing world, to showcase the strength and versatility women have, I always say, ‘in a world full of lions, be a lioness’.”

This story is also published in Insight Energy magazine, covering the latest news from the UK’s energy sector. Read the latest edition here.