The ECI plays a crucial role in the UK meeting its net zero ambitions, spanning sectors that focus on the construction, maintenance and decommissioning of heavy industry, including oil and gas, nuclear, power generation, renewables, chemicals, hydrogen as well as carbon capture and storage.
The Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s (ECITB) Labour Forecasting Tool (LFT) provides insights into workforce numbers across regions and sectors, predicting trends and potential future demand for workers in the industry.
The tool, which was first launched in November 2023, has been updated using findings from the ECITB 2024 Workforce Census and publicly stated timescales on 3,000 active and future ECI projects across Great Britain.
The ECITB’s latest forecast states that the size of the ECI workforce in the CCS sector could grow to more than 3,750 by 2030, subject to final investment decisions (FIDs).
General operatives, pipefitters and mechanical fitters are predicted to be among the roles most in demand in the sector.
The tool previously stated that demand across industry would peak in 2028, but this has now shifted to 2030 due to delays in some projects coinciding with other planned activity.
The revised predictions were possible thanks to a record response rate from industry employers for the latest iteration of the ECITB Workforce Census.
The ECITB Workforce Census 2024 offered a comprehensive overview of the ECI workforce, having gathered data on more than 1,100 workers in the CCS sector alone, covering distribution across regions, demographic trends, hiring challenges and business opportunities.
ECITB Chief Executive Andrew Hockey, commented on the findings, “A key objective of the Foundations pillar of our Leading Industry Learning strategy is to produce impactful labour market intelligence to enable data-driven decision-making."
“The significant Census response rate enabled the ECITB to provide more precise, up-to-date data for the benefit of industry. It allows us to improve the LFT to help make better predictions on future workforce trends and labour demands in the CCS sector."
“The updates to the LFT reinforce the challenges facing the industry that were outlined in our Workforce Census Report, which revealed how the pace at which projects reach FID tempers some of the optimism of employers towards the CCS sector."
“An analysis of projects initially set to reach FID in 2024 or later revealed that, between December 2023 and December 2024, the average announced FID date for projects in the sector was delayed by seven months."
“The Census highlighted that employers in the CCS sector estimate a 12% increase in headcount by 2027, although our latest LFT forecast puts this figure at 144% by 2030."
“We recognise that addressing skills shortages in the sector requires a collaborative, multi-agency approach that includes employers, governments, training providers and the ECITB."
“So, we’re calling on industry to work together to help increase the pool of people joining the sector, while continuing to train and upskill existing workers."
“By investing in the workforce, the industry has a fighting chance of ensuring the sector has the skilled workforce it needs both for now and the future.”