Scotland is at risk of losing out on the renewables jobs boom because of a lack of investment in skills training in the sector, according to an energy jobs recruitment firm.

More than 60,000 jobs, ranging from mid and senior management to highly skilled labour, are expected to be created by 2020 as Scottish firms start to reap the benefits of its pioneering work in wind, wave and solar energy production.

But industry professionals are warning that firms can only reap the economic and environmental benefits if they invest in Scotland’s current skills sector, and optimise design and installation processes to keep them one step ahead of other world renewable energy leaders.

Entrepreneur and engineering recruitment expert, Angela Paterson, who is involved in the launch of a jobs board to attract talent for the renewable energy sector, searchenergyjobs.co.uk, said: 'There are unprecedented opportunities for Scottish renewables firms over the coming years.

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"Yet with this increase in jobs, there seems to be a distinct lack of investment into recruitment and skills training to fulfil these positions, and already companies are using talent from overseas to meet the demand – not because it is cheaper – but because the skills do not exist in the UK," she continued.

“The real challenge for UK renewable firms lies not in producing energy, but in committing substantial resources to ensure the education, development and retention of key skills.

“Companies – often in the early stages of development – would benefit from skills training grants to enable them to ‘grow their own’ talent rather than having to ‘import’ skills.

“Companies also need to understand that they need to maximise existing UK talent and be more flexible in their recruitment process. The should be more open to those candidates with transferrable skills – particularly at a time of high unemployment in sectors that could easily adapt to the renewable industry,” she said.

Searchenergyjobs.co.uk, which is set to launch later this month, aims to bridge the skills shortage by providing a focal point online where companies can showcase their job opportunities across the UK. In addition, potential employees can search for current positions in the renewable energy sector as well as those in other energy fields such as oil and gas.

Workers with backgrounds in construction, engineering, grid connections, aerospace and also heavy industry are believed to be ideal candidates to transfer their skills into both construction and management jobs. Many of the management skill sets developed in related sectors such as construction, utilities and telecoms are also being identified as being easily transferable to the renewable sector, as well as engineers for project and design work.

(GK)