Susan Robson

CEO (interim), Women’s Engineering Society

The UK Government has set ambitious targets for green job growth as part of its commitment to achieving net zero by 2050.

The Government aims to leverage over a £100 million investment (source: Powering Up Britain) and create up to 2 million green jobs by 2030 (source: Green Jobs Taskforce). This includes roles in renewable energy, energy efficiency and other sectors that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Renewable growth, gender decline

Growth is expected to be driven by investments in renewable energy projects, infrastructure upgrades and initiatives to improve energy efficiency in buildings and transportation. This looks exciting. However, the energy industry is only able to attract women to the tune of approximately 15% of its workforce. This is a decrease from last year, with women in leadership roles in engineering leaving.

Gender diversity is not just a moral imperative
but a critical component of the renewable
energy sector’s future success.

Smart businesses are already acting

We can comfort ourselves somewhat in having a plan, but hope lies in acting quickly and decisively. Forward-thinking energy businesses are reviewing their approach to attracting and retaining female talent given the urgency of the need to grow capability and capacity. These same businesses are creating networks internally, and joining networks externally to understand the barriers for women wanting to enter and stay in engineering and to share best practices to arrest and reverse the trend.

Smarter businesses are going beyond the basics

Forward-thinking organisations will move beyond the ‘EDI as an initiative’ model — a good start but not enough — and look to embed inclusion and sustainability into every aspect of their operating model so that it is geared to attract the type and volume of talent needed to fulfil their innovation and growth goals.

Far from being a new paradigm, this draws on age-old strategic thinking that draws a case for change by

asking the fundamental business strategy questions of ‘What are the right things to do, and how will we deliver them well?’ Gender diversity is not just a moral imperative but a critical component of the renewable energy sector’s future success.