Youth employment: ScottishPower hires record

ScottishPower has recruited a record 465 graduates, apprentices, trainees and placement students this year, up 12 per cent on 2025, and called on the government to set a clearer long-term policy direction so that businesses create more openings for young people who are out of work, education and training.

The energy company said graduate opportunities were up 25 per cent on last year and placements on its Year In Industry programme, which gives a year-long paid role to those starting out in their career, were up 34 per cent. Other training opportunities rose by 8 per cent.

Keith Anderson, ScottishPower’s chief executive, said ministers could create more opportunities for young people who are not in employment, education or training if they set a “clear, long-term direction” that gave businesses the confidence to invest.

The Office for National Statistics estimated last month that 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in employment, education or training between April and June 2026, or 13 per cent of that age group.

ScottishPower said its intake ran against a national decline in apprenticeship and graduate opportunities, citing recent reports showing graduate vacancies falling to their lowest level in a decade and apprenticeships becoming harder for young people to find.

Anderson calls for certainty

Speaking ahead of a round-table event for politicians and business leaders in Edinburgh, Anderson said: “Too often, debates about economic growth focus solely on major infrastructure projects or headline investment figures.

“Those are important, but they miss a crucial point. Growth becomes real when local businesses win contracts, when apprentices are recruited, when wages rise and when communities see a future worth investing in.

“The question now is how we continue to grow that and, importantly, replicate that success elsewhere.”

He added: “One lesson stands out above all others. Businesses need ambition, certainty and stability to invest. When government sets clear long-term direction and works in partnership with industry, companies respond. They expand facilities, train workers, develop expertise and build supply chains.

“The UK’s clean energy ambitions have helped create that environment for our sector. The challenge for policymakers is how to apply the same principles across other strategically important industries.”

Anderson said: “Britain needs growth. The good news is that we don’t need to start from scratch to find it. Across the energy sector, businesses are already showing what can be achieved when ambition is matched with certainty and investment. And with the right approach, I’m sure there’s more we can do to deliver inclusive growth.”

Workforce set to reach 11,000

The company said its hiring was underpinned by a record £24bn investment plan to rewire the grid and build more clean power, which would expand its workforce from 6,500 to 11,000 by 2030.

Roles filled this year include data science, engineering, fitting, jointing, logistics, overhead lines, project management and software engineering. The total includes those taken on by Energy North West, which ScottishPower recently acquired.

Jodie Dinnie, 23, a commercial business graduate who studied marketing at the University of Strathclyde, joined the Year In Industry programme before applying successfully for the graduate scheme. She said she had been up against a large number of applicants for graduate roles.

“From speaking to close friends, I know that the transition from education into employment can be incredibly challenging. Many people I studied with spent months applying for roles despite having strong qualifications and relevant skills,” she said.

“When you’re putting so much time and effort into applications, only to receive rejection after rejection, it can really knock your confidence and make you start questioning yourself. Others have ended up taking jobs outside the fields they originally wanted to work in because opportunities in their chosen area were limited.”

She added: “For many young people, the biggest challenge isn’t a lack of ability or ambition, it’s simply getting that first chance to prove themselves.”

About the author

Jamie Young

Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the ‘covid era’ and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine’s coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk

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