Renewable energy employment growth 'may not continue'

The growth in the number of positions available in the renewable energy industry may not continue at the same rate, an environmental analysis job expert has said.

Ben Cartland, associate at climate change recruitment firm Acre Resources, noted there has been a recent surge in the number of wind farms developing across the UK.

However, he added that a lot of positions these sites have made available in the last 12 months are likely to be in support functions and not in specific technical roles.

Mr Cartland also noted that as competition is still "rife" for people with specific technical experience in wind turbine technology, the high rate of employment growth is likely to decline.

This comes after RenewableUK and Energy & Utility Skill released findings earlier this week, which stated that there was a 91 per cent increase in full-time employment in the wind industry between 2007/08 and 2009/10.

The study also revealed that this is in comparison with overall UK employment level, which shrunk by 3.4 per cent during the same period.

Mr Cartland added that there is "plenty of supply for non-technical roles".

Posted by Joseph Hutton