An awareness campaign is being launched to tie in with National Armed Forces Day on 27 June to spread the word to former service personnel to ‘Think Offshore Wind’ when considering their next career move.
Vattenfall is working with partners, including the Ministry of Defence’s military resettlement organisation the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR), RenewableUK and the Department of Work and Pensions, to ensure there is more of an effort to let veterans know about industry and career opportunities.
These will be communicated via a series of webinars focusing on the energy industry around National Armed Forces Day.
The webinars are aimed at current service personnel, military leavers, veterans, and partners and families of those currently serving.
The webinars will commence on 23 June and will run for four weeks. Participants can register at www.eeegr.com/events/militarywebinars/
Colin Brown, senior business development manager and Vattenfall’s Armed Forces champion, said: “If we support ex-military to transfer their expertise and attitude into a fast-expanding industry, it not only supports them, but it is a huge benefit for our business.
“As a veteran myself, I can clearly see the benefits that ex-forces personnel bring to the industry, from their technical and organisational capabilities, to their determination and work ethic.
“When we consider the UK’s journey towards net zero emissions, and the necessary decarbonisation of heat, transport, and the electricity system as a whole, it is clear that there will be a significant skills gap to address.”
Supply chain companies, like Worley and Global Wind Service have a workforce which is 15% ex-military, while the UK arm of Vattenfall already employs former forces personnel in its workforce.
Celia Anderson runs The Investment In Talent Group, which was set up by the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) to help bridge the skills gap in the sector, and she also has extensive experience of working with the military.
She said: “There is the old adage ‘You recruit on attitude. You can train skills.’ On top of an individual’s underlying skills, the military trains recruits for potentially life and death situations so they are focused on problem-solving and troubleshooting, with health and safety critically important.
“That culture in which they have been trained makes flexibility, adaptability and teamwork key to completing a mission and those are precisely the qualities that this industry needs to achieve our ambitions.
“The key thing is getting the information out to service personnel when still serving.
“They have an important part to play both on and offshore bringing the skills, knowledge, and attitude that we need to grow the industry over the next few years.
“Very few women with an engineering and military background consider the offshore wind sector so there is more we need to do to support the transition for them.”
Former submariner Christopher Scott now works for Vattenfall as a maintenance scheduler at Vattenfall’s Thanet offshore wind farm in Kent.
He added: “Having worked with motors and generators on submarines and seen the Kentish Flats turbines constructed from my hometown, a career in wind involving working on similar systems seemed perfect. Being offshore always appealed as an ideal career.
“It is also particularly good being able to enjoy close family contact. This was always a challenge working on submarines, which meant being away from home for months at a time.”