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The Institute for Employment Research (IER), Cambridge Econometrics and IFF Research in partnership were commissioned by RenewableUK and EU Skills to update its 2010 study into employment in the wind, wave and tidal energy sectors. The study looks at current and future employment and skills associated with the development of the UK wind and marine energy industries over the period 2010 to 2021.

The report, , published today reveals that together these important growth industries now directly employ 18,465 people full time. That’s equivalent to three times the number of people employed in UK coal industry (5,005 in June 2013 according to DECC) and a 74% increase in jobs since 2010. The report also shows that the offshore wind sector saw the biggest growth between 2010 and 2013, with the number of direct jobs doubling from 3,151 to 6,830. Looking to the future the report predicts that more than 70,000 jobs could be created over the next decade, nearly half of which would be in offshore wind.

Professor Jenny Bimrose (IER) will be hosting the fourth Organisational Innovation ESRC seminar at the University of ÌÒÉ«ÊÓƵ on 18 September. IER has organised the seminar on behalf of the Aston Business School. The seminar entitled 'Building skills at individual level: the role of workplace learning and national apprenticeships' includes a welcome from Professor Jenny Bimrose and Professor Helen Shipton (Nottingham Business School, Nottingham Trent University). Professor Alan Brown and Dr Lynn Gambin, from IER, will be presenting alongside Professor Lorna Unwin (Institute of Education, University of London), Professor David Guile (Institute of Education, University of London), Professor Alison Fuller (University of Southampton) and Professor David Collings (Dublin City University).

This seminar will investigate how medium-sized businesses can realise the potential opportunities that modern apprenticeships offer, especially bearing in mind the Coalition Government’s intention to expand this provision, and will look at other potential sources of new skills, for example, graduate employment. For more information on the ESRC seminar series - Organizational Innovation, People Management and Sustained Performance see: .

Bernard Casey will be a keynote speaker at the International Pension conference entitled Pension Reforms in Post-Socialist and other Countries – Comparison and Evaluation conference. It is being held at the Politechnika Poznanska in Poznań on 12-13 September.

A team at IER undertook a literature review and indepth interviews with key stakeholders on the use of migrant labour in low-skilled sectors, namely ‘construction’ and ‘accommodation and food services’, relative to other sectors of the economy. The study built on and expanded the existing evidence base focusing on the composition of the low-skilled workforce over time, a comparison of the different groups employed, and the characteristics of low-skilled sectors. The project report is now available:

Green, A., Atfield, G., Adam, D. and Staniewicz, T. (2013). . Report for Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). London: UK Borders Agency, Home Office.

IER would like to welcome Dr Mary McMahon, from The University of Queensland, who has arrived this week to start her 4 week IAS Fellowship. Mary will be presenting at various events over the next few weeks, so keep an eye on our news for more information. Professor Mark Watson, Distinguished Professor from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in South Africa, will also be visiting IER at the end of June. Together Mary, Mark and Jenny will be pursuing their international research collaboration on older women.