SGN tackles industry-wide skills shortages with biggest ever training and recruitment drive

Date:
01 Jun 2023
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We're stepping up our resourcing plans by hiring hundreds of frontline engineering staff over the coming year. We're also responding to long-standing skills shortages in the utilities sector by enhancing our apprenticeship and training targets and creating a new, senior role of Director of Capability.

The resourcing plan will see hundreds of new hires join the business across our network areas in Scotland and the South of England in key roles including Apprenticeships, Assistant Gas Engineers, Emergency Gas Responders and Team Leaders. We are also offering 197 apprenticeship and training opportunities this year, as part of ongoing plans to train and upskill more of our workforce. The new hires will be at the heart of our mission to keep our 6 million customers safe and warm while preparing our network for the energy transition.

Welcoming the recruitment drive, our CEO Mark Wild OBE said: “This is our biggest ever recruitment drive and I’m delighted that this year we’ll be offering close to 200 apprenticeships and training opportunities to people from all backgrounds to really turbo-charge our talent pipeline for the future. At SGN we offer stable, secure jobs that build into long-term, rewarding careers. We’re also right at the heart of the energy transition, so there are exciting opportunities for anyone who shares our commitment to supporting the UK’s journey to net zero.” 

Applicants can find out more about the roles on offer and talk to our staff at dozens of assessment days being run across Southern England and Scotland at locations including London, Reading, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Stirling. Once onboard, new hires will receive high quality, comprehensive training as part of SGN’s plans to underpin its skills base for the future and drive excellence across its frontline workforce. 

To underscore its commitment to people development and training, Susie McKirdy has joined us in a newly created role of Director of Capability. She is a former Head of Learning and Development for Hitachi Rail, where she helped build a technical training team to transfer manufacturing and engineering skills from Japan. 

Susie said: “I’m excited to be joining SGN to help tackle the long-term skills shortages we’ve experienced across the engineering, energy and utilities sectors. We’re taking a proactive approach, recruiting and investing in diverse talent, and upskilling our people to ensure we have a resilient, high performing workforce for the future.”

Anyone interested in a career with us can find more details of available roles on our dedicated careers hub.