“In both sectors, you build structures on land before installing them in the sea. It’s actually quite easy for someone who has worked in offshore oil and gas to get a job in offshore wind, although, of course, you need some training.” At the same time, Sheffield Energy’s oil and gas clients were themselves delving into renewable energy projects.
For human resources provider Sheffield Green, the offshore wind energy sector has been the gale in its sails. It is now a market leader in Taiwan, with operations in Singapore, South Korea, Japan and Poland, after CEO Bryan Kee spun it off in 2021 from his other recruitment firm, Sheffield Energy, which specialises in the oil and gas industry.
Kee, who is also Sheffield Green’s chairman, says that he saw an opportunity to diversify into the offshore wind energy industry in 2015 during a downturn in the oil and gas industry when many professionals were retrenched. He adds: “The skill sets needed for offshore oil and gas and offshore wind are similar and transferable.”
