Mind the gap.

The government just announced a North Sea Jobs Service to help oil and gas workers move into renewables and clean energy.

It launches this year. More than 70,000 jobs have already gone in the North Sea between 2016 and 2023 , and the state is finally stepping in.

I welcome it. But mind the gap.

Where are the renewables and clean energy jobs actually going to come from?

At the scale, the pace, and the day rates that match what experienced North Sea professionals are losing? I have spent 50 years in this industry and I am still waiting for someone to show me the spreadsheet.

The truth is the green energy platform hasn’t arrived yet.

Not at the volume we need. Not at the speed people are losing contracts. A skills passport does not create a job. A transition plan does not pay a mortgage. And no government scheme has ever moved faster than the market.

Here is the other truth nobody in Westminster wants to say out loud.

The rest of the world still wants oil and gas skills. Just not the UK. The Gulf is hiring. North America is hiring. LNG projects are hiring. Africa is hiring. The skills that Aberdeen built over 50 years are in demand almost everywhere except the country that built them.

We cannot stand on the platform waiting for a train that is running late. We have to go and find the work that already exists.

And the best way to do that is still LinkedIn. Not job boards. Not portals. Direct conversations with the people doing the hiring.