The International Marine Contractors Association (IMCA) has launched the IMCA Next Generation Network – a global, member-led network that will support the development of early career professionals.
Designed to strengthen development pathways for junior workers in the marine construction sector, the new global community forms a central pillar of IMCA’s strategic focus on people, competency, and skills.
It will also support the offshore industry to raise awareness of the growing range of career opportunities in marine construction.
Early career-professionals who work for IMCA member companies are now invited to apply to join the network by filling a survey.
Members who are later in their careers can nominate early-career colleagues, participate as mentors, and contribute to outreach initiatives across universities, schools, and training providers.
The IMCA Next Generation Network will provide a forum for early-career professionals to develop their careers, connect with peers and industry leaders, and shape the future of the marine contracting sector through innovation and collaboration, with activities structured around three core pillars:
- Inspire – raising awareness of offshore careers among students, educators, and early-career professionals.
- Connect – building a global peer community through events, digital forums, and engagement with IMCA committees.
- Develop – providing mentoring, technical insight sessions, and access to IMCA’s competence and training resources.
Iain Grainger, IMCA Chief Executive, said: “Developing the next generation of offshore professionals is essential to the long-term resilience of our industry. The Next Generation Network reflects our commitment to supporting members with practical initiatives that strengthen skills, enhance capability, and create clearer pathways into offshore careers. We look forward to working with the global IMCA community to build a workforce that is ready for the opportunities and challenges ahead.”
Early career professionals are telling us very clearly what they need: guidance, visibility, skills, and connection. This network will be built around those needs and will be designed with our junior members, not for them.
Lou Bendall, IMCA People Director, added: “Early career professionals are telling us very clearly what they need: guidance, visibility, skills, and connection. This network will be built around those needs and will be designed with our junior members, not for them.”
The initiative will be overseen by IMCA’s People Committee, chaired by Heerema Marine Contractors’ Tessa Hillebrants, and will form part of IMCA’s broader strategy to support its members to attract and nurture hundreds of thousands of skilled, diverse, and adaptable professionals over the next decade.
Employment trends in the offshore energy sector, which is undergoing significant transformation as markets expand, digital systems mature, and operational demands increase, will require new technical skill sets, broader multidisciplinary capability, and strong leadership at all levels.
Young professionals call for visibility, opportunity, and support
The network’s launch follows a ‘next generation’ session at IMCA’s 2025 Global Summit, held in November in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at which young professionals and students heard from a panel of apprentices, graduates, cadets, and trainee divers.
Live polling at the event showed that the most common route into an offshore career was through industry outreach initiatives, cited by 47% of respondents.
Around a third (31%) of the audience were primarily influenced by their family, while just 12% were led by careers advice at a school, college, or university, highlighting the need for clear, visible pathways into the sector and greater awareness of offshore careers at academic institutions.
Asked which benefits they would be most interested in receiving from a network for young professionals, the leading asks were mentoring and reverse mentoring opportunities (cited by 56% of respondents), learning industry best practices and technical skills (41%), guidance on career development (39%), and networking with peers (37%).
Delegates shared candid reflections on what attracted them to offshore work and the challenges they faced as they built their careers. Participants emphasised the importance of meaningful responsibility, structured development routes, exposure to frontline operations, and visible role models.
“You learn fast in this industry, but what makes the biggest difference is having people who take the time to guide you,” one early-career panellist noted. “When you are trusted with real responsibility early on, it builds confidence and shows you belong here.”
Session chair Jamie Chestnutt, Chief Operating Officer at IMCA, said that engaging young professionals would be a key part of IMCA’s long-term plan to support the skills and leadership needed in a changing offshore energy landscape.
“The marine construction industry is changing fast. We cannot meet tomorrow’s challenges without investing in the people who will lead it,” he said.
“The Next Generation Network is designed to give early-career professionals a platform, a voice, and clear career progression pathways into the technical and leadership roles our sector depends on.”
IMCA’s will profile the work of its Next Generation Network at events this year, including at the IMCA Global Summit 2026, hed on 28-29 October in Antwerp, Belgium.
