Green jobs revolution concern as Scotland loses more than 27,000 manufacturing jobs during pandemic

Concerns have been raised by the GMB union which says that while the race to net zero is supposed to revolutionise manufacturing, ministers have "let the jobs disappear overseas".

The Scottish Government had pledged to produce 130,000 green jobs by 2020 and has come under fire by critics after only a fraction of roles expected have materialised.

According to the latest estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) from February, the number of estimated full-time equivalent jobs in Scotland’s “low carbon and renewable energy economy” fell from 21,700 in 2019 to 20,500 in 2020 – a drop from 23,200 in 2014.

In 2015, according to the ONS data, Scotland had 22,900 green jobs, before the number increased to 24,000 in 2016 – but fell to 22,100 in 2017 and 23,100 in 2018.

According to the same estimates there are 4,800 full time workers in offshore and onshore wind in Scotland out of 14,800 across the UK in 2020.

The GMS said there are 200 more people servicing rollercoasters and ghost trains than wind turbines ans aid that shows how "badly managed our green revolution is".

Last year it emerged that 35,000 UK jobs supported by the oil and gas industry have been lost in 2020 as Covid and volatile prices struck.

The oil and gas sector saw the number of direct and indirect jobs which it supports across the country drop from 152,100 in 2019 to 117,400 in 2020, surpassing a warning made last year that around 30,000 jobs could be lost.

The GMB are concerned that the move from fossil fuel jobs to renewable employment "hasn't materialised" and called for a proper industrial strategy for Scotland and the UK.

GMB Scotland senior organiser Gary Cook said: “Scotland will also have suffered its share of an estimated 35,000 direct and indirect job losses across the UK oil and gas sector – that will be an underlying factor in this manufacturing decline. It also brings into sharp focus yet again the chronic haemorrhage of offshore wind manufacturing contracts to the rest of the world. If we are losing traditional energy sector jobs on one hand and the green jobs of the future on the other, the prospects for any meaningful employment transition to a low-carbon economy are bleak.”

Earlier there was concern as a contract to manufacture and supply monopiles for the huge Moray West offshore wind farm wen to China’s Dajin Heavy Industry.

The 860 megawatt (MW) and 85 turbine offshore wind farm in the outer Moray Firth is being developed by the Ocean Winds consortium, a 50/50 joint venture between EDP Renewables and Engie.

In March, Ocean Winds signed a capacity agreement with United Arab Emirates-based Lamprell worth in excess of £150m, covering the supply of 62 transition pieces, including 60 wind turbine jackets and kit for the scheme’s two offshore substations.

Charlotte Childs, GMB national officer added: “More than 27,000 manufacturing jobs lost during the pandemic is devastating for communities in Scotland.

"Unless ministers address this urgently there could be worse to come.

“The race to net zero could revolutionise UK manufacturing; tens of thousands of new, green jobs in wind, solar, nuclear, and more.

“Instead, this government seems determined to let them all disappear overseas.”

It comes as Crown Estate Scotland confirmed that there was no stipulation over a minimum proportion of local content as it oversaw the auction of seabed plots for 17 major offshore wind projects around the Scottish coast.

But it still believed the ScotWind programme would bring jobs and "new opportunities for Scottish businesses, help build a net zero economy, and hugely increase the amount of clean, green electricity generated here in Scotland".

Earlier this year it emerged that Scotland was to set to lose billions in profits every year from a new round of ScotWind projects hailed by the First Minister as a “truly historic” opportunity for Scotland’s net zero economy.

With a combined potential generating capacity of 25GW, companies have been offered new rights worth almost £700m to specific areas of the seabed for the development of offshore wind power.

While the total impact on the associated supply chain and on the number of jobs had not been made clear, the First Minister had said their estimates suggest as much as £1 billion could be generated for every gigawatt of power. A gigawatt equates to roughly two coal-fired power plants and is enough to power 750,000 homes in Britain.

And the respected think tank Common Weal has feared that a lack of manufacturing capacity in Scotland means that supply chain promises on ScotWind may not be forthcoming if companies believe it is cheaper to import material rather than invest in Scotland.

Nicola Sturgeon said in 2017 that the Scottish Government planned to set up a state-owned energy company in Scotland which was due to be established last year but was dropped in September.

But Common Weal said the failure to create a state-owned energy company which could have sold the new ScotWind electricity to the grid and retained operating profits, meant the nation would lose between £3.5 billion and £5.5 billion every year in profits – about a tenth of the current Scottish budget.

Nine months ago the South Korean-owned company running Britain's only UK facility for manufacturing onshore and offshore wind towers based in Scotland went into administration.

CS Wind (UK) had been seen as a key part of the green jobs revolution in Scotland.

But its factory in Machrihanish, Argyllshire was down just one full-time member of staff for nearly a year after a slump in orders having once employed nearly 200.

And in 2020, administrators were formally appointed to take control of part state-owned Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab), the insolvent renewables manufacturer run from Canada seen as a key part of the future of Scotland’s wind farm revolution.

Deloitte took control of affairs of BiFab after it collapsed when the Scottish Government did a u-turn in backing the firm.

Two of the three BiFab fabrication yards – Methil in Fife and Arnish on Lewis – were subsequently bought out of administration by London-based firm InfraStrata for £850,000. But the former BiFab fabrication yard at Burntisland in Fife was not part of the deal and re-emerged under Forth Ports ownership, with Aberdeen-based dive systems specialist Orca Oceanic Systems setting up an operations facility.

Meanwhile, yesterday, a UK Offshore Wind Industry Council survey found that the sector in Scotland supports 30% of the 31,082 UK jobs in the sector - approximately 9300, of which 5,800 were direct.

The joint industry-government body exercise last year found that Scotland supported 30% of 26,000 UK jobs - approximately 7800 jobs.

The 2020 estimates from the independent statistics body ONS stated that while over ten years ago the Scottish Government were championing the desire to be the green energy capital of Europe with between 20,000 and 28,000 jobs in offshore wind alone, there were just 2200 full time jobs in the sector.

Melanie Onn, the deputy chief executive of the trade association RenewableUK said of the OWIC research: “This shows that we’re making rapid progress in seizing the economic benefits of the green industrial revolution."

Energy Minister Greg Hands added: “This report demonstrates the extraordinary potential of renewable energy to create jobs, drive investment and secure cheaper, clean electricity.

"We have ambitious plans to go even further as the UK becomes a global renewable energy powerhouse."

A Scottish Government spokesman said “The loss of any job is regrettable and impacts on people, businesses and communities.

"We are fully committed to reaching net-zero emissions by 2045 and transforming Scotland in to a fairer, greener and more prosperous country, that is why we have committed £2 billion in low carbon funding to invest in new measures to end Scotland’s contribution to climate change and create green jobs.

“Creating, supporting and monitoring green jobs through initiatives like the Just Transition Fund for the North East and Moray and the Green Jobs Fund will be vital in helping Scotland to secure a truly just transition to net zero, with no person or region left behind.”

The Scottish Government said the figures came from the Annual Population Survey, which "is not the recommended source" for this type of data.

They said the Business Register and Employment Survey statistics, which the spokesman said was "the best official source of employee estimates", reported a 5.3% or 9,000 increase in manufacturing jobs between 2019 and 2020.

“This increase in manufacturing jobs is supported by evidence of generally strong demand from businesses for more staff to fill existing vacancies. We recognise the vital role of manufacturing in achieving an economy of secure, sustainable and satisfying jobs.