The SNP is facing calls to deal with a “mismatch” over promises of highly-prized green energy jobs in Scotland.
Former Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard MSP, on The Stooshie politics podcast, says oil and gas workers need more assurance about the move to jobs in renewable energy.
It follows a jobs summit in Aberdeen attended by leaders across the sector.
Mr Leonard says he feels there is a constant fight to secure green jobs in Scotland.
Jobs transition not happening, says MSP
Mr Leonard said: “There’s been a massive haemorrhaging of jobs from the north-east and there is a mismatch between the rhetoric we hear from both governments and people’s everyday experiences.
“So many people I speak to who formerly worked in oil and gas have not landed a job in an equivalent sector like renewable offshore energy.”
He said there needs to be a “better understanding” of the “real transferability of skills” from jobs in the fossil fuel industry to jobs in renewables.
The Labour MSP added the pay on offer in the renewable energy sector also needs to better reflect the “harsh and hazardous” conditions these workers may be expected to work in.
At the Aberdeen summit, trade unions said they were happy with clarity around an “offshore skills passport”.
The skills passport is designed to prevent the duplication of training costs to allow workers in offshore oil and gas to move smoothly into renewables – and is expected to be in place by the second half of 2023.
More work needed for onshore jobs
But this is not just an issue for offshore jobs. Mr Leonard also wants to see more action taken to secure onshore renewable jobs as well.
He said Scottish fabrication yards are missing out on lucrative contracts to build parts for wind turbines as the work is going overseas.
Mr Leonard said: “When Alex Salmond was first minister he promised 130,000 jobs in marine technology alone, let alone onshore renewable technologies.
“Very, very few of those actually materialised and what we see is work that ought to have been carried out in fabrication yards in Scotland being offshored.
“I fail to see how that is good for the economy, jobs or the climate.”
He added it is “disappointing” these onshore jobs are not getting the workload they deserve.
Trade unions and government ‘mismatch’
The Scottish Government said it expects over 400 jobs at Arnish on the Isle of Lewis to be created within the next five years.
However, Mr Leonard said this is “miles away” from what the trade union representatives from the fabrication yard are telling him.
He said: “When I speak to the trade unions they tell me these are miles away from where things are at the moment and the numbers in each yard is very small.
“It was not long ago Arnish Point was making people redundant.
“There needs to be a bit more of a vision and a broader industrial strategy which says these jobs are important.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “The Scottish Government has committed £2 billion in low carbon funding to invest in new measures to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change and create green jobs.
“Offshore wind is a huge opportunity for Scotland, and already £28bn of supply chain commitments have been made as part of the Scotwind process.
“We are also investing in initiatives like the just transition fund for the north-east and Moray and the green jobs fund to create and support green jobs.
“The recent offshore energy skills event also focused on how the sector can share views and insight, as well as encouraging greater collaboration and will help pinpoint where further action is needed.”
