The government wants to go big on infrastructure, housing, and green growth. It’s an ambitious agenda, and rightly so.
But there’s a problem: you can’t build what you can’t power.
Our new report from JTL, Powering the Future, reveals a fast-declining electrical workforce. At the heart of the issue is a strained apprenticeship system. Without urgent action, the lights on these plans may never come on.
Apprenticeships are the gold standard in this sector, yet the training pipeline is limited. To maintain the workforce, we need over 10,500 new electrical apprenticeship starts each year. We’ve been averaging just over 7,500.
Recent skills policies have prioritised general construction over the electrical workforce, despite the industrial strategy identifying technical skills for infrastructure and clean energy as priorities.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Since 2018, England’s electrical workforce has shrunk by 26.2 per cent. Even with a slight rise in apprenticeships, more people are leaving the trade than entering. If this continues, the workforce could shrink by another 32 per cent by 2038.
This decline is evidenced in JTL’s new national projection model, developed with industry partners, offering a 15-year forecast of workforce size and skill levels.
That decline threatens to increase project costs, delay delivery, and jeopardise major plans; from housing to data centres.
Electricians don’t just wire buildings – they wire the economy. They install systems in new homes, Hinkley Point, HS2, clean energy tech, retrofits, and EV charging infrastructure.
Policy Isn’t Keeping Up
Government policy remains reactive, addressing some of today’s shortages while neglecting the greater, looming skills gap. JTL’s detailed projection modelling tool anticipates future demand, but there’s no coordinated national approach from central government to model that demand and align with its own ambitions; from mass house-building to net zero targets to a once-in-a-generation infrastructure programme.
Without strategic forecasting, the UK risks failure – not from lack of ambition, but from lack of foresight.
Furthermore, shortcuts are creeping in. Fast-track training and funding for classroom-only courses that don’t result in a job are eroding industry standards. In safety-critical roles, that’s both unacceptable and dangerous.
Competence matters. We need rigorous training and fully qualified entrants. Anything less risks safety and quality.
What Needs to Change
To close this skills gap, we need bold and immediate action beyond the government’s recent focus on foundation apprenticeships. Our report outlines four recommendations:
Set ambitious targets: Government must work with industry to set and meet annual goals for apprenticeship starts in the electrical sector. This means forecasting based on future infrastructure needs, not just current shortfalls.
Fix the funding: Apprenticeship funding must rise in line with inflation. Right now, funding doesn’t reflect the true cost of training a skilled electrician. That squeezes providers and limits quality.
Reward quality: Achievement rates matter. Let’s reward high-performing providers, tackle poor completion rates head-on and make data more transparent so we can reduce barriers to achievement.
Back the employers: Most electrical apprentices are trained by small and micro-businesses. They need the financial incentives and support to increase their uptake.
No electricians, no growth
The industrial strategy talks a lot about growth sectors. AI, clean energy and advanced manufacturing all depend on infrastructure – and that means electricians.
No matter the vision, without skilled people, nothing gets built. We can’t grow the economy, meet climate targets, or build homes without a competent electrical workforce to power it all.
JTL proudly trains more electrical apprentices than any other provider in England and Wales, but we can’t scale up without support. We need employers to take on apprentices, and ministers and Skills England must match ambition with action to give this critical workforce the support it urgently needs.
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