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6 May 2019
With the offshore renewables industry surging ahead as countries aim to achieve their climate targets, clients are increasingly looking to recruit Atlas professionals for permanent roles. Based in Bristol in the UK, Reza Amin has been brought onboard to specialise in permanent recruitment as Atlas develops its ‘permanent team’.
Reza joined Atlas Professionals in January 2018. For the five years prior to his appointment Reza had worked in the recruitment industry in engineering, defence and aerospace sectors.
He comments: “It was largely my interest in renewables, which led me to Atlas. Clean energy is something I am passionate about. I am also a ‘bit geeky’ and find the fact that these huge turbines create green electricity very interesting and I love talking to our professionals about the latest pioneering technologies. Besides all the technology I really like the international aspect of my role.”
His technical background has helped Reza settle quickly into his role, he adds: “I could hit the ground running and I now have a good understanding of the engineering lifecycle in the renewables sector.”
Adding value for Clients and Professionals
Although Atlas has always supported its clients on an ad hoc basis when they have had requests to find permanent members of staff, some clients may not have been aware that Atlas can also supply staff on a permanent basis, not only contract bases.
Reza states. “We always aim to form strong relationships with our clients – and with our professionals – and we will always do our best to support our client with their operations and expansion strategies. We are extending the services we can provide and locating professionals for permanent roles is another way we can add value.”
In the upcoming years there will be seven key focus countries for permanent placements. These include the dominant EU markets (UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Germany) which account for 96% of the globally installed capacity and new entrants such as Taiwan and the US.
The EU is aiming to achieve a 40% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. In order to achieve these targets individual countries have set specific goals for reducing emissions. These efforts mean that it is not really feasible to rely on the freelancer pool, Reza adds. “This is not a long-term strategy for our clients, therefor we see an increase in the demand for permanent staff members.”
>100 GW in 2030
Given this rise in the number of projects that are planned, clients are looking to expand their permanent staffing levels so they can secure people and also develop their skills for future projects. There is a concrete pipeline of projects that will be developed up to 2030, which will increase installed capacity from around 24 GW in 2017 to >100 GW in 2030. Beyond this, estimates suggest a continued growth to 600 GW in 2050 (>50% is expected to be in OECD countries).
“Some of our clients have a solid project pipeline for the next five years. They can reduce their project costs substantially by employing permanent staff and increase consistency as well. While freelancers, working from project to project, may be less concerned with the commercial aspects of a project in the longer term I think permanent staff are often all-rounders. Our current clients are looking for a range of permanent staff including project managers, project engineers, tender / commercial support and onshore / offshore superintendents.”
The wind farm lifecycle can be broken down to three stages; the first is the ‘Development & Consenting’ stage which will have the highest level of FTEs (around 85%), then there is the ‘Construction & Installation’ phase. This is probably the phase that has the biggest mix of professionals – roughly a 50/50 split between FTE and freelancers. Lastly, the ‘Operations & Maintenance’ phase has around a 70% level of permanent staff.
Relevant CVs
Reza considers the main advantage for clients is Atlas’ vast, global network. “Clients have access to a much wider range of network, not just the network I have built up from the UK but also the full network of all our offices globally. Furthermore, Atlas is in touch with innovation groups and because of our solid relationships with our professionals we are aware of who might be looking for their next step in their career.”
Recruitment is very time consuming, he adds, and clients simply do not have the time to go through more than 100+ applications, especially when 95% might not be relevant to their specific need. “Clients know that I will find a better candidate for them than they can find in their own pool. I will send 3-5 relevant CVs and I would expect them to want to employ one or more of those people.”
Above all, the whole process is carried out in a consultative way, Reza says. “The relationships we have with clients is something I am very proud of. Our focus is what’s best for the client – we discuss not just the skillset that is needed, but also other challenges such as supporting their own recruitment process.”
Job security given project pipeline
For professionals, permanent roles can mean increased job security and career development. “There will always be people who want to switch from freelancing to being a permanent employee. Perhaps they are looking for other benefits than the freedom of a contract role.”
Most professionals, contract or permanent, have an absolute passion for what they do in the Renewables industry. Often, they would like to work with specific clients and/or projects, and are willing to relocate. Atlas works with high tech and very innovative clients. Our professionals want to develop their careers and to become the top specialists in the field. They know which projects are coming up and also they see this as a great opportunity to develop their career path.”
The increase in the renewables project pipeline also enables professionals and clients alike to look further ahead with more confidence. Atlas is very much looking forward to assisting clients and professionals with their future permanent careers. If you would like any further information regarding Atlas’ UK permanent recruitment, please contact Reza on bristol@atlasprofessionals.com.
