Ageing workforce threatens UK’s net-zero ambitions

Government must do more to boost training in the green skills sector to prevent the UK missing its net-zero target. That’s the conclusion of a new report from the Institute for Public Policy Research.

The research finds that there is a lack of leadership on the issues of skills and employment, at all levels of government, and industry.

Government must take the green skills crisis seriously, says the IPPR, investing in further education, and matching its net-zero ambitions with investment in decarbonisation. Industry must give the issues of skills and employment a seat at the table in board-level decision making, and make radical changes to ensure the construction sector is an attractive place to work. If leaders in industry fail to take this action, boards will have to explain the rising cost of skills shortages to investors and shareholders in the future.

The construction workforce is getting older. The IPPR found that more than one in three (34.6 per cent) workers in the sector are over the age of 50, implying that up to 750,000 workers would either retire or be on the verge of retiring over the next 15 years. The Farmer Review (2016) estimated that the demographic profile of the workforce could be 20 to 25 per cent lower by 2026. The IPPR’s analysis shows that this trend has worsened, with the proportion of workers aged below 30 shrinking from 22.8 per cent to 20.3 per cent over the past five years. If these trends continue the sector may be faced with severe workforce shortages.

The IPPR is calling on the Government to legislate to allow industry to procure responsibly, supporting a level playing field for the construction supply chain in publicly sponsored projects. The research has found that the construction sector is not an attractive place to work. The causes of this are deep-rooted, structural, and cultural. Addressing these issues is a vital part of securing the government’s ambitions to achieve net zero by 2050. The best way for government to make a start on achieving change, is for public sector sponsors of major infrastructure projects to leverage their buying power through the procurement process to drive behaviours at the firm level.

The new legislation should require major projects clients to:

  • appoint chief sustainability officers to senior leadership teams in major infrastructure projects, with a remit spanning skills and employment and carbon reduction
  • ensure that all new major projects are net zero by design from construction, and operation, through to decommission
  • pay the real living wage to all employees working on a project
  • appoint boards that are representative of the population in which the project is being built
  • ensure that all staff employed on major infrastructure projects are offered the opportunity to attain an accredited net-zero construction qualification
  • offer incentives to the supply chain to recruit, train and retain apprentices during and after their involvement in the project.