MORE than one in four of oil and gas workers are looking to quit the sector, a new survey found today.

The overwhelming majority — 95 per cent — said that the government was not doing enough to help them find alternative employment.

Only 16 per cent of the 400-plus workers who were surveyed were currently happy in their jobs.

Workers who took part in the research by the climate justice charity Platform complained of the “poor morale” in the sector, with one saying they felt employees are treated “like dirt.”

Another described how “salaries have declined and been stagnant for over a decade,” saying they felt that “staff have taken the brunt of this” rather than company executives.

Unite regional secretary Susan Fitzgerald said: “This report is alarming but not surprising. The government has failed to create a clear pathway for workers to transition from the oil and gas sector into renewables.

“There is always a promise of jobs being created but no evidence of the well paid, highly skilled jobs that workers need actually existing.

“The government need to deliver new green jobs in sufficient numbers to ensure workers can transition.”

Ruby Earle, worker transition lead at Platform, said that with oil and gas firms now looking to “squeeze every last drop of profit from the North Sea’s dwindling reserves” it was “no wonder workers are anxious about what lies ahead.”

She said: “It is oil and gas workers who have the skills and talent to build our energy future. But they need to be supported to do so.

“Instead of warm words from politicians, we need tangible action now.

“That means financial support and training for workers to move sectors, investment in domestic manufacturing to create good, well-paid unionised jobs, and an expansion of publicly owned energy to make sure the wealth generated is shared.

“The UK and Scottish governments need to start listening to workers, not oil and gas lobbyists or their political cheerleaders.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said: “We have taken rapid steps to deliver the next generation of good jobs for North Sea workers in a fair and prosperous transition, including making the biggest investment in offshore wind and carbon capture, and helping oil and gas workers access clean energy jobs through our ‘skills passport’ and training programmes.”