ScottishPower has recruited a record 465 graduates, apprentices, trainees and placement students this year, increasing its intake by 12% compared with 2025 as the energy company called for greater policy certainty to encourage businesses to create more opportunities for young people.
The company said graduate recruitment had increased by 25% over the previous year, while placements through its Year In Industry programme rose by 34%. Other training opportunities increased by 8%.
The recruitment drive comes as the number of young people outside employment, education or training remains high. The Office for National Statistics estimated that 981,000 people aged between 16 and 24 were not in work, education or training between April and June 2026. That represented 13% of the age group.
ScottishPower said its recruitment growth contrasted with a wider decline in graduate vacancies and apprenticeship opportunities across the UK. Recent reports have indicated that graduate vacancies have fallen to their lowest level in a decade, while young people are also facing greater difficulty finding apprenticeships.
Speaking ahead of a round-table meeting involving politicians and business leaders in Edinburgh, ScottishPower chief executive Anderson said economic growth should be measured not only through major infrastructure projects and investment figures, but also through job creation and opportunities for communities.
“Growth becomes real when local businesses win contracts, when apprentices are recruited, when wages rise and when communities see a future worth investing in,” Anderson said.
He argued that businesses need ambition, certainty and stability from government to make long-term investments. Clear policy direction, he said, allows companies to expand facilities, train workers, develop expertise and build supply chains.
Anderson said the UK’s clean energy ambitions had helped create a stable environment for ScottishPower and its sector, and urged policymakers to apply similar principles to other strategically important industries.
ScottishPower said its recruitment programme is supported by a £24 billion investment plan focused on upgrading the UK’s electricity grid and expanding clean power generation.
The investment is expected to increase the company’s workforce from 6,500 employees to 11,000 by 2030. New recruits this year have taken positions across data science, engineering, logistics, overhead lines, project management, software engineering and other technical fields.
The total also includes workers joining through ScottishPower’s recent acquisition of Energy North West.
One of the new recruits, 23-year-old commercial business graduate Jodie Dinnie, studied marketing at the University of Strathclyde and initially joined the Year In Industry programme before securing a place on ScottishPower’s graduate scheme.
Dinnie said many young people struggled to move from education into employment despite having qualifications and relevant skills. She said repeated rejections could damage confidence, while limited vacancies sometimes forced graduates to accept jobs outside their preferred fields.
“For many young people, the biggest challenge isn’t a lack of ability or ambition, it’s simply getting that first chance to prove themselves,” she said.
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