GWO BTT: The big industry problem that nobody's talking about
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We started a conversation about this gap and the response was clear: people want change. Here are 3 shifts we can make together to actually move things forward for the wind industry.
Over the last week we started a conversation on LinkedIn about a simple question:
If the wind industry needs hundreds of thousands of new technicians, why are so many qualified people still struggling to get a chance?
The post sparked a flood of comments from technicians, hiring managers and industry leaders. People shared stories of spending thousands on training with no clear route into work, and employers talked honestly about the pressures they’re under when choosing who to hire.
This blog pulls together what we heard from both sides – technicians and employers – and asks what actually needs to change if we’re serious about closing the gap.
If we need half a million wind technicians, why are so many still waiting for a chance?
According to the Global Wind Energy Council, the world needs 532,000 new wind technicians by 2028. At Offshore Wind North East, we heard that around 24,000 of those could be needed in the North East alone.
At the same time, our inbox is full of messages that sound like this: “I’ve got my tickets. I’ve paid for my training. I’m ready to graft. I just need a chance.”
Ex-military. Oil & gas. Manufacturing. FMCG. People who’ve spent thousands of pounds and months of their life retraining for wind, and still can’t get an interview.
So what’s going on? Is the “skills shortage” overblown? Are people being unrealistic? Or is there something more complicated (and fixable) underneath?
From what we're seeing, it’s both a skills gap and an opportunity gap. And you only really see the full picture when you look from both sides of the fence.
Blog post 11th Nov If we need half a million.pdf by Lauren Paul
What needs to change – from both sides
A lot of the fixes are already hiding in that LinkedIn thread. Here are three big shifts we need to make together.
1. More honest conversations about training
Training isn’t a golden ticket – it’s a foundation.
GWO, BTT, BST, BOSIET and HUET don’t guarantee a job; they’re baseline safety and access, not proof of competence or a promise of work. They only make sense as part of a clear, realistic route into real roles – not as something people are encouraged to buy “just in case”.
2. Real pathways and mentoring
We need actual doors into the industry, not just job ads.
That means trainee and gateway roles with clear expectations, programmes that mix training with on-the-job experience, and mentors on site who help new starts turn theory into safe practice. Without that, we’re asking people to prepare for a job that doesn’t properly exist for them yet.
3. Smarter hiring and better support for entrants
Employers can tap into new talent without taking reckless risks.
Gateway roles where attitude and adjacent experience (military, oil & gas, toolmaking, industrial maintenance) really count; pre-screening and validation of skills and mindset with trusted partners; and onboarding and competence plans that grow people into the role. Done well, that turns “no wind experience yet” from a red flag into a development opportunity.
Where we’re focusing our effort
At WTS we sit in the middle of this tension every day.
On one side, we’ve got technicians and career-changers doing everything they’ve been told to do, and still feeling shut out.
On the other, we’ve got employers who genuinely want good people, but are under pressure to keep standards high and downtime low.
That’s why our focus is shifting more and more towards:
Building clearer, more honest pathways from training into employment.
Working with employers to design new-entrant and upskilling programmes that actually reflect what happens on site.
Supporting technicians not just with certificates, but with the skills, mindset and positioning that make them stand out in a pile of 1,000 CVs.
Training on its own isn’t enough. Experience on its own isn’t enough. We need a system that recognises potential, nurtures it, and turns it into competence – safely.
Time for Action
So if we really do need half a million new technicians, here’s the uncomfortable truth:
We can’t keep selling training as a golden ticket.
We can’t keep designing entry routes that demand experience we’re not willing to help people build.
And we definitely can’t keep shutting out the very people who are knocking hardest on the door.
From technicians, employers, training providers and industry bodies – everyone has a piece of this to fix.
If you’re a technician trying to break in, or an employer wrestling with how to bring new people through safely, I’d love to keep this conversation going.
Head back to the LinkedIn post that started this discussion and add your perspective – that’s where we’re collecting real experiences from both sides and turning them into practical action.