Industry survey by Scottish Renewables has found that businesses working in the Scottish renewable energy sector are anticipating a sixth of their workforce will be lost within the next 12 months.
Scottish Renewables polled its members on employment levels and confidence over the next year, with respondents predicting an average decrease in full-time equivalent posts in Scotland of 16.9%.
The survey also asked respondents how they felt about the future of the renewables sector more generally over the coming 12 months.
Over 41% said they felt either quite or very negative, while the same number said they felt ‘neutral’ about the coming year, Scottish Renewables informed.
Jenny Hogan , Director of Policy at Scottish Renewables, said: “These results show that changes to and closures of support schemes are having an impact on our members and on the numbers of employees within their businesses.
“The UK government is rightly excited about the economic opportunities presented by the impacts of the global shift to low-carbon energy, but it’s really important we don’t forget about the jobs in our renewable energy sector today.”
However, some 47% respondents said they felt positive about the future of their own businesses over the next 12 months, while 32% felt negative. A fifth of respondents, or 20%, said they felt neutral.
The survey , titled Employment Trends and Business Confidence, was completed by 46 companies within the Scottish Renewables membership between February 6-19, 2017.