The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) has published a best practice guideto improve the recruitment of women and people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) groups.

The document "Addressing Gender and Ethnicity in the Offshore Wind Sector" aims to work towards a more diverse workforce by suggestingways to widen the job recruitment process, removing any bias from job descriptions and introducing diverse interview panels.

It also outlines how to create a welcoming and fully inclusive working environment for people from all backgrounds, how to retain staff and ensure they are encouraged to progress to senior positions.

A variety of case studies show how companies in the UK offshore wind sector are already doing this, as examples of best practice.

The industry has committed to increasing the proportion of women employed in the offshore wind sector from 16% in 2018to at least one-third by 2030 and to reach a stretch target of 40% if possible.

In March, the industry announced a BAME target of 9% by 2030 with a stretch target of 12%.

This compares to current BAME representation of 5% in the workforce of the energy sector overall.

Equinors principal consultant on asset management Carol Williams, who worked on the guide, said: "This is an important step forward for our industry as it provides a blueprint for us to reach our goal of being more inclusive as our workforce continues to expand rapidly over the course of this decade.

"We know that to hit the Government's 40GW offshore wind target by 2030 we will have to employ the best people from the widest, most diverse pool of talent available.

"It's important to us that our industry reflects modern British society in a truly representative way and this guide provides a roadmap for us to achieve that."

The Offshore Wind Sector Deal people & skills director Celia Anderson added: "The guide has been developed by the offshore wind industry to be readily accessible to any company operating in our sector, irrespective of its size or the nature of the work it undertakes.

"The aim is to create a more inclusive culture by challenging preconceived ideas about gender and ethnicity, so that we can attract the people we need.

"This is an industry which understands the need to take proactive steps to achieve positive change."

In addition, a new scoping study from the Supergen Offshore Renewable Energy hub has foundthatonly 5% of senior engineering roles are held by women.

Furthermore,7.8% of professional engineers are from Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

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Offshore wind guide to recruit diverse workforce - reNEWS