Offshore Wind vs Oil & Gas: How the Workforce is Evolving

The offshore energy workforce is increasingly shaped by the parallel growth of oil & gas and offshore wind, with growing crossover in certain roles as project requirements continue to overlap.

While oil and gas remain a major part of the global energy mix, the rapid expansion of offshore wind and wider renewable energy projects is reshaping how companies source, deploy, and manage offshore personnel.

At Select Offshore, we work closely with clients and contractors across both traditional offshore energy and renewables, and we are seeing clear trends emerging in how the workforce is evolving in practice.

In particular, we are seeing increasing demand for professionals with transferable offshore experience who can support both oil & gas and offshore wind projects, particularly where operational requirements and competencies overlap across sectors.

Transferable Skills Across Offshore Energy

One of the most significant developments in recent years has been the growing crossover between oil and gas and offshore wind.

Many of the core skills required offshore remain highly transferable, including:

• Marine operations
• Lifting and rigging
• Mechanical and electrical maintenance
• Health and safety compliance
• Vessel operations
• Subsea and cable installation work

These transferable skills are increasingly enabling movement between sectors as operational requirements continue to converge in certain areas of offshore energy.

Experienced offshore professionals are therefore finding greater opportunity to apply their expertise across multiple project types, supporting both traditional and renewable developments.

Renewables Are Creating New Opportunities

The growth of offshore wind has created a significant number of new opportunities across installation, maintenance, commissioning, and project support roles.

As offshore wind projects scale globally, energy companies are seeking skilled professionals who can operate safely and effectively in complex offshore environments.

This has created new career pathways for many offshore workers, particularly those with strong technical backgrounds and established offshore experience.

However, mobilisation requirements and certification standards can still vary significantly between projects and regions, particularly where international contractors and multi-jurisdictional compliance frameworks are involved.

Oil & Gas Experience Remains Highly Valuable

While renewables continue to expand, traditional oil and gas operations still require experienced offshore personnel across drilling, production, marine, and subsea projects.

Professionals with strong operational experience, safety awareness, and technical expertise remain in consistently high demand.

In many cases, operators continue to value individuals with experience across both oil & gas and offshore wind, particularly where adaptability across different operating environments is required.

Training and Certifications Continue to Evolve

As workforce requirements change, training expectations are also evolving across the offshore sector.

Many offshore professionals are now holding both GWO certifications and traditional offshore safety training such as BOSIET/FOET to increase flexibility across oil & gas and offshore wind projects.

This combination of certifications is becoming increasingly important as companies look to deploy personnel across multiple project types without delays in mobilisation.

Having a broader and more adaptable certification profile can therefore significantly improve access to opportunities across the offshore energy sector.

Looking Ahead

The offshore energy sector is expected to continue evolving with oil & gas and offshore wind operating in parallel for the foreseeable future.

In practice, we are seeing increasing demand for professionals with transferable offshore experience who can move between oil & gas and offshore wind projects, particularly where operators are looking to maximise workforce flexibility across both established and emerging energy markets.

For offshore professionals, this creates opportunities to diversify experience, expand technical capability, and access a broader range of international projects.

At Select Offshore, we continue to support both offshore energy companies and skilled professionals across oil & gas, renewables, marine, and subsea operations.

As the sector evolves, experienced offshore personnel remain central to delivering safe, efficient, and reliable operations across all areas of offshore energy.