In the Spring of 2021, People with Energy surveyed the energy industry asking both employers and employees about their experience of diversity, equality and inclusion in their sector. As you might imagine, the results generated a lot of data! Over the next few weeks, we’ll be sifting through it, discussing statistics that we think are noteworthy and subjecting the answers to analysis from  our experienced perspective as recruitment consultants.

The first two questions focussed on respondents' experience of diversity - broadly defined as inclusive of factors such as gender, race, age and sexual orientation. 

The response to these questions showed us that there was no one clear experience of diversity within the workplace. When asked to mark (on a scale of 0-100) how diverse they deemed their current workforce to be, responses ranged from 0 (no diversity at all) all the way up to 97 (extremely diverse). We calculated that the mean response was 60.

Experience Varies by Workplace

The sheer range of answers shows that each individual’s experience of diversity depends heavily on their current workplace. Some employers have worked hard to recruit a more diverse workforce, while other workplaces remain more set in their ways.

In the second related question, we asked people to select or name challenges that lack of diversity might create. Interestingly all the answers except one came out around the 30% mark - indicating that the challenges exist fairly uniformly but no single one represents a major issue for the industry. 

Reliance on Immigration No Challenge

The standout statistic in this second question was the low result for “Increased reliance on immigrant labour”. With only 6% of respondents believing this to be a challenge resulting from their experience of diversity.

Our survey indicates that there is no industry standard when it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion. If you are looking to improve the diversity of your workforce, you could start by using the services of a recruitment company that has a robust recruitment process in place.

People with Energy’s recruitment services have been designed to make sure that our clients won’t miss out on the full range of talents on offer from a diverse population. Our specialist recruitment consultants will work with you to provide personnel and crew for all size projects, no matter the scale, contract length or location. Call us on 01502 564892 or email info@peoplewithenergy.co.uk to discuss your recruitment needs.