Retrofit Academy and Generation Partner to Change Lives and Change Retrofit Advice
Retrofitting the UK’s c.27m homes on a path to net zero carbon is expected to require the creation of >10,000 new jobs in retrofit coordination, advice and assessment roles by 2025.
Businesses across the sector already report capacity challenges and the difficulty in finding people with the right skills and aptitude for these roles. At the same time there are c.700,000 young people in the UK not in employment, education or training and >300,000 have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic in a crisis that has had a disproportionate effect on those from disadvantaged and minority backgrounds.
Generation – a global non-profit which has trained over 40,000 learners facing barriers to employment across 14 countries with >86% job placement in 3 months – and The Retrofit Academy CIC – the UK’s leading provider of retrofit training – are collaborating to address these challenges with a new green jobs training programme to support and drive a green recovery that builds back better!
As we start at the bottom of the “retrofit mountain”, we see a summit of 27 million homes to be decarbonised in less than 30 years. To achieve this, we need motivated, well-trained people able to engage homeowners and landlords on the right level. This partnership with Generation not only creates the platform to achieve this, but also promises to improve the life-chances of thousands of talented people who have faced barriers in life. We are proud to be working in partnership with Generation on this exciting project.
DAVID PIERPOINT, CEO, THE RETROFIT ACADEMY CIC
About the Programme
The new programme will be a free, 10-week full-time bootcamp training individuals in cohorts of 25 for entry level roles in retrofit as Retrofit Advisors and aims to:
- Provide employers working on green and renewable energy and retrofitting with a reliable source of diverse and highly-motivated, entry-level talent equipped with the specific skills, mindsets and behaviours needed to succeed from day one and
- Provide life-changing opportunities to individuals who face barriers to employment motivated to launch a ‘green’ career– specifically unemployed young people aged 18-29 (targeting >50% female, >80% ethnic minority, >30% LT unemployed)
Employers will have the opportunity interview and hire Retrofit Advisors after they graduate from the bootcamps, for roles in their organisation focused on:
- Providing customer support and advice – Explaining retrofit processes and options to customers; troubleshooting and solving their issues; challenging and querying as a first point of contact with multichannel communication; documenting and tracking interactions.
- Supporting retrofit coordination/assessment processes – Supporting grant applications; conducting initial property/customer assessment and triage; compiling costs/pricing quotes; tracking and recording activity; booking surveys/installs with third party providers; interpreting and synthesising energy performance/retrofit assessments into reports.
From initial placement, learners are expected to progress into qualified assessors in around 2 years, and into coordinators in around 5 years as they build experience and expertise.
The programme will launch with a pilot in late 2021, before scaling to support hundreds per year through 2022 and beyond.
In tackling the climate crisis we are going to create thousands of jobs across the economy that will require specific skills that we currently don’t have in abundance. The challenge and ambition to retrofit the UK’s homes is a clear example of this. At the same time, youth employment has been hit hard by the pandemic with those from minority backgrounds disproportionately affected. There is now an unrivalled opportunity for us to provide a diverse group of young people with the training to enter the rapidly-growing green sector. We are delighted to be working with The Retrofit Academy CIC to build a programme to upskill young people for the green jobs of the future and today and help the UK’s 2050 Net Zero targets.
HUGH CHATFIELD, HEAD OF GROWTH, GENERATION
Interested in Knowing More?
To find out more about the programme and register your interest as a potential employer of learners trained by the programme, please reach out to [email protected].
To register your interest as a potential employer for other roles , including Apprentice Heat Pump Installers and Apprentice Electricians (focused on renewable and solar), please fill out this <2 minute survey.
