Thames Water, alongside other leading energy and utilities companies, has committed to attract a more diverse and inclusive workforce into the sector.
The 32 companies have each pledged to drive change and work together to attract, recruit and retain a more diverse employee base as part of the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership. The commitment will challenge them to act and think differently, and aims to inspire and connect them with underrepresented groups while introducing new talent and ideas.
Steve Robertson, Thames Water CEO, said: “Supporting diversity and inclusion is not just something that’s clearly the right thing to do but is vital to ensure the best available talent contributes to our business, and that we reflect the communities we serve.”
Employing around 566,000 people across the UK, the energy and utilities sector will need more than 220,000 new recruits to fill its expected skills gap by 2027. Currently 83 per cent of its workforce is male, compared to 47 per cent for all sectors nationally, while women, people with disabilities, the Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) community and under 24s have traditionally been under-represented compared to national averages.
Projects at Thames Water to address this include a special scheme to help jobseekers from BAME backgrounds called ‘Mentoring Circles’. The initiative was launched in 2017 as part of a government drive to address issues faced by BAME individuals both in work or trying to get into work. The circle events offer face-to-face support, advice and guidance to those in attendance, along with workshops on CV writing and interview skills. Since the project’s launch, dozens of participants have subsequently found employment, with several also gaining interviews at Thames Water.
Nick Ellins, chief executive, Energy & Utility Skills Group, said: “Through the inaugural skills strategy, led by the Energy & Utilities Skills Partnership, the UK’s utilities and their contractors have set out their ambition to enhance the diversity of their workforces and be ever more inclusive. This new commitment is a framework. It starts the collective action to help the sector workforce better mirror the communities it serves and secure the unquestionable benefits that result from having vibrant, truly inclusive and diverse teams.”
Other companies to make the EU Skills inclusion commitment include Anglian Water, Centrica, National Grid and Yorkshire Water. For more information visit www.euskills.co.uk/the-sectors-inclusion-commitment
