The UK is at risk of losing thousands of offshore wind jobs by 2030, prompting urgent and concerted action, RGU has warned in a report titled “Ballasts – Building a Sustainable UK Offshore Energy Workforce”.
The UK stands a crucial watershed moment in the energy transition journey. With the decline of oil and gas jobs, an alternative opens up: the offshore wind investment and green jobs boom. While fossil fuel employment continues to shrink, renewables energy are emerging as the underpinning of energy security and economic recovery.
A new report on the offshore energy workforce from Robert Gordon University identifies an important trend: while UK offshore energy total employment was stable between 2023 and 2024, the internal churn is changing quite dramatically. It is a sector changing from one based on oil and gas, to one powered increasingly by clean energy, renewable energy such as offshore wind power.
UK Offshore Wind Jobs Fuels Employment Growth
They also found that UK offshore jobs was relatively stable, sitting at about 154,000 workers each year between 2023 and 2024. But buried within that number is the elephant in the room: a massive shift. A drop of about 5,000 jobs to 115,000 workers dented the oil and jobs workforce in the traditional sector, which fell from 120,000 positions. It continues a trend of decreasing employment across fossil fuels on the back of declining production and growing decarbonization pressure on both products and firms.
By comparison, jobs in the offshore renewables industry in the UK grew sharply — up from some 34,000 to just under 39,000 within a single year. This expansion is linked directly to increased development of offshore wind energy, particularly for early-stage activities like pre-construction work and new wind farm construction phases.
This rebalancing of the workforce internally is driving an identity change of the sector. Of the offshore wind workforce, oil and gas accounted for 80% in 2023, compared to only 20% for renewables. And by 2024 that balance had changed to around 75 per cent oil and gas and 25 per cent renewables, a clear indicator of the shift in green energy jobs UK.
Green Jobs Will Exceed Fossil Fuel Jobs This Late 2020s
Forecasts looking forward indicate that green energy jobs UK—the vast majority offshore wind jobs—will boom in the coming years and outstrip oil and gas employment. The number of offshore renewables workers in the UK is expected to rise from 31,000 in 2022 to between 84,000 and 153,000 by 2035, depending on investment levels and policy commitments.
Conversely, the UK oil and gas workforce is projected to keep declining, falling to 57,000–71,000 people by the early 2030s. This transition is not just a structural realignment in energy, but also a significant opportunity for retraining and workforce development. By acting in a coordinated fashion, we can train thousands of oil and gas workers to migrate into offshore wind and other cleaner and more sustainable roles.
Transport shifts in the UK are entering a crucial time – referred to as a “Goldilocks zone” between 2025 and2050 in the report – where appropriate investments now and plans in place can help to capitalize on the fact that workforce skills will remain highly transferrable and levels of employment can remain stable as the sector pivots.
Skills, Training, Infrastructure Needed
To maintain the existing size of the offshore workforce and that of a growing green energy economy in the UK, the proceedings report makes a number of pivotal recommendations. It must deliver a minimum of 40GW of operational offshore wind by 2030. Achieving this bold target will underpin thousands of opportunity for jobs — from wind farm construction, to operations and maintenance, to supply chain services.
Increasing the UK content — is the proportion of offshore wind capital investment that remains within the UK economy — is another important element. Currently, we deliver about 25% of the capital activities for renewables in country. This could unlock significant employment upside if UK capex content is increased up to 40%. More domestic capital expenditure in offshore wind projects translates into more jobs between 7,000 and 12,500 in fact for every 10% of capex by 2030.
Achieving this target will involve large scale transition of UK operational capacity, and operational capability — at least in manufacturing, engineering, logistics and vocational training. To ensure projects proceed and jobs are created when planned, much of this new infrastructure will have to be built before final investment decisions are made.
Finding the Way Through the Just Transition with a Workforce Plan
Supply and demand of the workforce: this is where it becomes important as the UK works its way to a just transition towards a net-zero economy. While representing less than 1 percent of global greenhouse gases, the UK is providing a template for how developed countries can transition away from fossil fuels without sacrificing jobs and communities.
This means a new kind of offshore employment ever — flexible and project-based. Labor will likely transition between major renewable projects and also between regions and companies. The emerging jobs market will demand a much greater emphasis on vocational skillsets, which will in-turn require new pathways and re-skilling in areas such as offshore wind and decommissioning.
Still, before 2027, there simply might not be enough room in renewables to accommodate all the oil and gas workers being fracked out by sector decline. It emphasizes the need for early investment and targeted policy intervention to scale up renewables quicker and gear up for bigger movements of the labor force in the late 2020s.
Offshore Wind as a Foundation for the Future Green UK Economy — UKERC
UK offshore wind investment: how to make the most of it Everyone with a stake in this must know that making more clean energy at lower cost is not just about clean energy. It is about creating an adaptive and affordable economy built on better pay, our own energy independence, and a resurgence in climate leadership. Offshore wind can help raise up regional economies, establish new manufacturing centers, and build a diverse and inclusive green workforce, if the correct policies are adopted.
In fact, with as much as 85% of current O&M work for renewables already performed by UK companies, the skills base is already here. The question now is whether this can be emulated in capital development activities, where domestic participation remains under international levels.
Both McCarthy and his think tank saw a clear opportunity for the UK to lead the world in offshore renewable. But time is of the essence. Haqq-Misra said that postponements in action, or the lack of cooperation between government, industry and education, would lead to the loss of job and lost opportunity. But without concerted action, the offshore energy workforce could shrink from 154,000 to only 125,000 by 2030 — increasing the challenge of reaching net zero.
Conclusion: Bet on the Future of a Green Economy
This shift away from fossil fuels and toward renewables is underway. It is now up to the UK to decide if it will drive this or simply flail, trying to keep up. So, with oil and gas jobs diminishing, the offshore wind sector growing, and decarbonization around the world accelerated, we must seize the opportunity to invest in green jobs and domestic renewable infrastructure today.
By:
- by investing in skills-based learning,
- And investing in UK-based supply chains,
- Adding to the UK capex basket, and
- On delivering large scale offshore wind projects,
…Britain can do to safeguard its energy future, protect good jobs, and become a clean energy superpower.
The UK offshore energy sector is on the verge of a new industrial revolution. By capitalizing on new opportunities, the country can increase its energy security and strengthen its position as a world leader in offshore energy.
