Phasing in and phasing out: reworking labour in energy transitions in the North Sea (PHASE)

A green transition means both a transition away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy solutions. Both processes will bring profound changes to our economic, social, and political systems—particularly in how work is organised. Jobs will be lost, others will be created, and work processes will change.

In the North Sea, the expansion of renewable energy is closely intertwined with employment in the petroleum sector. Moreover, the green transition will coincide with other transformations in the labour market. These developments will influence workers’ capacity and willingness to engage in democratic processes related to the green shift.

The insights generated by the PHASE project can help identify both opportunities and challenges for a green and just energy transition, with particular attention to youth, inequality, and democratic participation in working life.

Phasing In and Phasing Out

Workers employed in or connected to the offshore industry in the North Sea face dual exposure to forces of change. They must contend not only with pressures on the very existence of the oil and gas sector, but also with broader labour market shifts such as onshoring, digitalisation, and the increased use of temporary staffing agencies.

We hypothesise that trade unions’ positions on the green transition are deeply shaped by their experiences with mobility and changes in labour regimes.

The project seeks to understand how:

• the green energy transition affects labour market dynamics, working conditions, and industrial relations (labour regimes) in North Sea-based energy systems
• different groups of workers perceive and are motivated by the green transition, and how this translates into active trade union engagement in the transition
• the green transition alters the conditions for economic democracy

The insights from PHASE can contribute to identifying pathways and barriers to a green and just energy transition, with a focus on inequality and democratic participation in working life.

Methodology and Progress

The core of PHASE will be an interdisciplinary case study on Norway. In addition, we will draw on experiences from Scotland, where the offshore renewable industry is more advanced. This comparative approach allows us to explore transnational aspects of transition and work organisation.

Studies of green labour market transitions typically focus on aggregate data concerning energy or labour supply and demand—often without insight into workers’ and their organisations’ knowledge, experiences, and motivations. PHASE will combine labour market statistics with qualitative interviews to explore how the green transition is affecting employment, work, and work organisation in offshore-related energy activities in the North Sea.

Using Norwegian registry data, we will map individual movements between jobs in oil/gas, renewables, and other industries, as well as the composition of the workforce. We will examine changes in the composition of workers and of inequalities between different groups of workers over time. In addition, we will conduct interviews with workers, unions and students and managers who recruits workers or students, to gain a deeper understanding of experiences and motivations.

We will also carry out individual and group interviews with employees in both petroleum and renewable sectors to explore changes in offshore labour regimes. This includes examining how the green shift affects working conditions, relationships between workers, the state, and the market, and the terms of participation and influence. Special attention will be given to new value chains and to vulnerable groups of workers with more precarious forms of employment.

We expect that experiences with and expectations to the green transition will influence workers’ collective capacity and willingness to support it. A pessimistic hypothesis is that deteriorating working conditions in offshore industries may lead to increased resistance to the green transition. An optimistic view is that the transition could bring new opportunities for employment, redistribution, and welfare. In addition to interviews with union representatives in Norway and Scotland, we will organise a dedicated workshop with workers from both countries to co-produce knowledge and develop action-oriented proposals for a green and just transition.

About the Research Group

The research team is international and interdisciplinary, comprising economists and human geographers with diverse areas of expertise.

The project is a collaboration between researchers from Fafo (project lead), the University of Oslo, Statistics Norway (SSB), and the University of Glasgow.

The project has an active advisory group including:

• Jake Molloy is a former oil worker and long-time union leader with RMT, and a member of the Scottish Just Transition Commission.
• Professor Vivian Price, California State University, Dominguez Hills, is a former refinery worker and union representative studying green and just transitions. She is also a documentarist and uses photographic methods in her research.
• Professor Bradon Ellem, The University of Sydney. Ellem is a labour geographer who has published extensively on work and employment. He is currently focused on industrial relations in fossil fuel industries in Norway and Australia.