Making the case for a job transition scheme in the energy sector
John Storey, Prospect energy projects organiser, imagines how a job transition scheme could be implemented in the energy sector, and how it could help us achieve a zero carbon future.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which was partly shaped and influenced by trade unions, including Prospect, shows what can be achieved when circumstances call for bold and radical solutions from government.
It might have taken a global pandemic, but nonetheless it shows what is possible, if the will is there.
Just imagine what could be accomplished if we were able to channel some of that urgency and fresh thinking into other areas of public policy.
Take, for example, climate change.
Our warming planet poses an existential threat to the future of humanity. Yet it was only last year that the UK government committed itself to being a ‘net zero’ emitter of greenhouse gases by 2050.
To meet that target we still need to develop a holistic and coherent industrial policy for how we intend to manage the Just Transition: that is how we treat the workers and local communities that will be most affected by our switch to a low-carbon economy in the decades to come.
It is an area that is in real need of some audacious ideas… So, what about a Job Transition Scheme for the energy sector?
This would be a novel scheme that enables workers to move from one part of the energy sector to another e.g. giving a worker in thermal generation the opportunity and training to transition to a job in renewables.
This job-to-job transitioning would be fully supported and funded to help overcome some of the obstacles that prevent this from happening more often.
Currently, issues such as relocation, skills gaps, potential for lower pay and loss of accrued benefits, such as pensions, are big barriers to job transitions for many energy workers.
Why a job transition scheme is needed:
- The closure of coal, and now increasingly, thermal plants has a massive impact on the workers and the local communities. Often, such plants are the largest employers in the area and it’s difficult to get comparable jobs. Hence, the need for a Just Transition.
- There is a universal acknowledgement that there is a skills shortage across the energy sector. The National Grid says an 400,000 extra workers will be needed between now and 2050.
- A failure of current policies and practices that allows existing energy workers to transition effectively into the faster growing parts of the sector, namely renewables.
The scheme
A job transition scheme, backed and funded by the government, could be designed to overcome, or at least mitigate, many of these barriers.
The main elements of the scheme might encompass:
- Allowing workers to retrain, possibly while they are still working in their current job.
- This would include wage support while retraining, along with a commitment to comparable terms and conditions in the new job, including trade union recognition.
- This wage support could be similar to the CJRS where workers get 80% subject to a cap, with an option for employers to top up wages.
- There would be comprehensive support throughout all stages of the transfer, with a strong emphasis on skills training and practical secondments.
- This scheme would be complimentary to apprenticeships and STEM work with schools and universities.
The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme shows that government can make dramatic interventions in the economy if it really wants to.
Would such a scheme for the energy sector really be a step too far?
What is certain is that without a thriving and dynamic energy sector the government will never be able to meet its net zero target.
As well as government-backing, any scheme would also need the full support of industry from the big energy companies all the way through the supply chain, training providers, local communities and, of course, trade unions.
What is outlined here is merely the bare bones of a proposal; a blue sky exercise for one of the critical issues of our time.
Perhaps a good lesson to learn from the COVID-19 crisis is that we should not have to wait for an emergency before we dare to think of big ideas.
