People who face losing their jobs in the oil and gas sector, as a consequence of lower oil prices affecting business, will be helped to transition into other energy industry and manufacturing jobs through the Scottish Government’s GBP 12 million transition training fund announced in February 2016.

The training fund was created to assist former oil and gas sector employees train to qualify for new jobs in the sector; it also assists in avoiding the industry losing highly skilled workers who might otherwise seek opportunities in other sectors. As the oil price fluctuates, it is important to retain this workforce to enable the industry to react to new exploration and development opportunities which may become available again should oil prices rise in the future.

The fund will help maintain the highly skilled energy workforce in the North Sea region by offering grants to individuals to support their redeployment through retraining or further education. It will also help people with the costs of maintaining any licences they need to work in the sector and may also assist transitions into STEM-related teaching. The fund will allow organisations such as Skills Development Scotland, in conjunction with the Energy Skills Partnership and Energy Technology Partnership, to provide practical training and education that will help people meet the demand for other specialist jobs in the wider sector.

More information:

Transition Training Fund
£12 million for energy skills