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UtILItY WeeK | 26th september - 2nd october 2014 | 9 Interview T his is the first time, to my knowledge, that the government has ever altered its benefits rules to accommodate a training programme," beams Neil Robertson, chief executive of Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills), as he announces a special dispensation that has been granted to the body's collaborative training project in the northwest of England. This unusual favour means those who enrol on a new set of pre-apprenticeship traineeships in the North West – where about 100,000 people aged between 16 and 24 are unemployed – will still be eligible for Jobseeker's Allowance while they complete their training. The schemes were designed under the Energy & Efficiency Industrial Partnership (EEIP) by a group of regional employers, led by United Utilities, to fast-track young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs) into full-time work. The traineeships will equip young people to apply for jobs in the utilities sector as well as developing their employability generally. Robertson says it's a major leap forward, and one that should be celebrated and emulated elsewhere. "Our success with this is massively important," he states. "It shows that if you take a step forward to do something good, people will come and join you. "Youth unemployment, whatever the shape of the UK and whatever government is in power, is still one of the biggest challenges we face as a nation. It is persis- tently high." Despite significant reductions in youth unemploy- ment across the UK this year, few would deny the truth of this. But why should utility companies be the ones to take action on this social problem? Educated self-interest comes into at play as Robertson clarifies his thinking with some alarming figures on the skills gaps facing the utilities sector. According to labour force analysis conducted by EU Skills, about 50 per cent of the utilities workforce is set to retire in the next few years. Current recruitment to fill these positions – particularly technical roles – is dis- mally insufficient. "We need 40,000 technical recruits over the next ten years, but if we continue on the current steady state for recruitment, we will be able to fill just 25 per cent of those roles," says Robertson. The programmes now emanating from the EEIP will improve the outlook, he says, but they will not make the shortfall disappear. Instead, EEIP's efforts should enable industry to fill about half of its technical skills require- ment over the next decade. With the remaining shortfall still looming large, Rob- ertson urges concerted action, with board-level backing, to attack utilities skills gaps on two fronts. First, and most importantly in terms of skills sustain- ability, new and innovative ways of getting more out of the UK education system and new recruits must be introduced. Second, and more controversially, there must be a rational acceptance of the need to bring in skilled workers from abroad to meet specific, immediate skills requirements. Within the first element of the battle plan, Robertson sees four cross-cutting themes around which companies can act. These are: young people; improving productivity and training for frontline managers; using procurement "