Scottish Power recruiting thousands of young workers to roll out cable lines across UK
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THE boss of Scottish Power has told youngsters to skip college or university and start earning instead. The energy giant is hiring thousands of workers to roll out cable lines across the country. Keith Anderson told Sun Business when we visited its Dealain House facility in Cumbernauld, Dunbartonshire, that the firm needs to expand its workforce from around 6,500 to 11,000 within the next six years.
![[Scottish Power boss Keith Anderson has told youngsters to skip uni and start earning instead]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/images-sandy-young-photography-scottishpower-958325978.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The hiring spree comes as Scottish Power pumps £24billion into the grid network to ensure the UK can rely on electricity and shift away from gas as part of the Government’s 2030 Clean Power push. Mr Anderson wants to bring in more 16-year-old apprentices straight from school so they can start earning, learning and adding to the economy.
![[The Sun's Ashley Armstrong at the Scottish Power site]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/images-sandy-young-photography-scottishpower-958158037.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
He said one of the challenges the economy faced was “people telling you that having a degree, whatever you get a degree in, is more valuable than an apprenticeship”. The power boss is talking to the Westminster and Scottish governments about setting up huge training sites for a wartime-style recruitment effort for the entire grid sector.
![[Scottish Power has pumped £24billion into the grid network]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/2022-general-view-national-grid-766124352.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
Scottish Power is already trying to attract workers at the INEOS Grangemouth refinery, which is shutting next year, and hiring others from bust builder ISG. Mr Anderson said: “We can retrain anybody. “We’ve had long haul truck drivers, we don’t care, bring it on.”.
![[Ashley Alison worked in her family’s garage before applying to be a Scottish Power trainee two years ago]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/images-sandy-young-photography-scottishpower-958158052.jpg?strip=all&w=640)
