Growing the heating industry and workforce
www.nesta.org.uk/feature/a-policy-library-for-decarbonising-home-heating/growing-the-heating-industry-and-workforce/
www.nesta.org.uk/feature/a-policy-library-for-decarbonising-home-heating/growing-the-heating-industry-and-workforce/
Supporting heating engineers and the wider heating industry to switch to low-carbon heating and attract the next generation of workers
The UK needs to scale up its green heating industry dramatically as part of the switch to low-carbon heating. The heating workforce - particularly heating engineers who work in people’s homes - will play a vital role in the transition, as both installers and a trusted source of advice to households.
There is already a large workforce focused on gas heating, which needs more support and encouragement to transition towards low-carbon heating. At the same time, the UK needs to train the next generation of heating engineers and help them gain experience in the industry.
Delve into our latest work on growing the heating industry and workforce below, or return to the main page to explore our other policy areas.
What can we do to attract more experienced engineers into the heat pump workforce, and how can we bring in new entrants? Our work has explored many of the opportunities and barriers faced by engineers to boost participation.
Reports:
The aim of this project was to uncover challenges and barriers that existing heat pump installers face to installing more heat pumps, and make recommendations that would lead to meaningful solutions to those challenges. This report shows the findings of that project, using feedback from 345 engineers across the country.
This report examines the urgent need for the UK to expand its low-carbon heating industry. With 25 million fossil fuel boilers needing replacement over the next 30 years, the government aims to boost annual heat pump installations from 30,000 to 600,000 by 2028. To achieve this, the sector must significantly increase the number of skilled engineers and improve productivity. Currently, only 3,000 trained engineers exist, but at least 27,000 are needed within six years.
Projects:
In partnership with SNIPEF, this project supports new heat pump installers by providing them with a heat pump to install in their own home. This hands-on experience aims to boost their confidence, speed up certification, and encourage more professionals to enter the heat pump market. By addressing the challenges new installers face, we hope to build a skilled workforce ready to meet the growing demand for heat pump installations and support the UK's net-zero goals.
This project explores how financial support can empower newly trained heat pump installers. As part of efforts to boost the renewable heating sector, we're investigating the impact of additional financial incentives on installer uptake and retention. With a goal to understand the challenges these professionals face and how funding might alleviate them, our study includes interviews with participants and trials of different payment models.
Project updates:
This project update documents our recent trial with trained engineers to see whether financial incentives could boost their participation in the home retrofit market. aims to tackle the urgent need for a skilled workforce to advance upgrading the country’s heating systems. The Heat Training Grant in England is a flagship scheme, complemented by similar programs in devolved nations and English regions.
The project update highlights the urgent need to expand the heat pump installation workforce in line with government targets. Currently, with only 3,000 installers in the sector, we aim to increase this to 27,000 within five years. Existing gas engineers possess valuable skills that can be quickly adapted to heat pump installation with minimal additional training.
The project update focuses on addressing critical challenges in the heat pump sector. Research highlights barriers hindering firms from expanding, notably the difficulty in hiring skilled engineers and especially those experienced in heat pumps. Our findings underscore the need for viable training solutions and strategies to attract college graduates into the industry. We aim to innovate in these areas to bolster workforce capacity, ensuring firms can confidently scale operations to meet escalating demand against national goals for sustainability.
What wider barriers are there to getting more people into green jobs? Our work has looked more broadly at green jobs, and what could be done to open them up to more people.
Reports:
This report from Nesta and the Behavioural Insights Team explores the landscape of green jobs and the challenges in developing the necessary green skills. Research indicates a strong demand for green jobs among workers, yet a shortage persists due to inadequate skills development. Findings suggest that financial incentives like grants, subsidies, and loans significantly boost willingness to pursue green courses. The report recommends such incentives to spur green job growth, alongside improved career advice and flexible training options.
This report by the Behavioural Insights Team explores the current landscape and potential for growth in the green jobs sector. It delves into the definition of green jobs, existing barriers to their expansion, and identifies key areas crucial for their development: awareness, attractiveness, availability, and ability. Highlighting skills training as a pivotal factor, the report suggests strategies to enhance awareness and attractiveness of green careers, aiming to foster a more robust green jobs market in the UK.
What would make green jobs more attractive to women and other underrepresented groups? Our work has tried to outline what these barriers are and proposed policy solutions to increase representation within the green workforce.
Reports:
This report investigates the landscape of 'green jobs' and 'green skills' in the context of the UK’s transition to a net-zero carbon economy. It highlights significant gender disparities in awareness and interest towards these roles, particularly within STEM fields. Findings reveal that women generally have lower understanding and interest in green jobs compared to men, exacerbated by perceptions of qualification mismatches. The study underscores the need for targeted strategies to enhance awareness and attract diverse talent, crucial for achieving both gender parity and sustainable economic growth.
Our report explores the factors that could discourage women from pursuing green job roles, despite the expanding opportunities in the UK economy. Through interviews with 16 women, ranging from students to professionals with STEM backgrounds, we identified various barriers such as lack of awareness and perceived qualifications mismatch. Our findings highlight a gender gap in interest towards green skills and underscore the need for targeted interventions in communication and job site design. This research aims to inform strategies that foster greater female participation in the growing green workforce.
