Powering Up Energy Security, Burning Out the Workforce?
Powering Up Energy Security, Burning Out the Workforce?
History Has a Habit of Repeating Itself
Even though high employment levels tend to be good for the mental health of countries, and generally excellent for the prospects for the politicians that oversee these prosperous periods. It remains a well observed fact that most countries are quite bad at workforce planning their industrial strategies. Whether it is the post WW2 construction boom, the response to the 1970s Oil Crisis (which really fuelled the rise of alternative energy strategy) to the IT Boom of the 90s and 00s – it is clear that governments undermine their national interest by creating staff shortages, high turnover from boom and bust cycles and an inability to manage the winners and losers. Green energy is no exception, however the consequences of failure for all stake holders are perhaps the most severe we’ve ever known.
The green energy transition presents a curious paradox. While 9 million new jobs could emerge globally in renewable sectors over the next decade, traditional energy industries face the loss of 5 million positions. Local communities built around fossil fuel industries stand particularly vulnerable to this shift, despite the promising overall employment outlook.
Numbers tell part of the story - 12 million jobs in 2020 in renewable energy marked a 60% surge since 2012. Yet beneath these encouraging figures lies a more complex reality. The International Energy Agency's analysis suggests 14 million new energy sector positions could materialize by 2030 through the most cost-effective net zero pathway. The catch? These opportunities rarely arise where fossil fuel jobs disappear.
The German Ruhr region offers hope, successfully pivoting from coal mining to a knowledge economy. Contrast this with Odessa, Texas, where fossil fuel industries still provide 20.1% of local employment. Their divergent stories highlight both the possibilities and pitfalls ahead. This piece examines how different regions navigate workforce transitions while maintaining energy security, exploring strategies that work and lessons from those that stumble.
Energy Security's Perfect Storm
Global energy markets find themselves caught in unprecedented turbulence. Energy prices soared in 2021 as post-pandemic recovery collided with Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Natural gas prices reached dizzying heights, dragging electricity costs to record levels across multiple markets.
Supply Chain Chaos
The dust has settled somewhat since the initial energy crisis, yet markets remain as steady as a house of cards. Russian pipeline gas to Europe plummeted by almost 120 billion cubic meters during 2022-2023. The European Union's reliance on Russian energy took a dramatic nosedive, falling from 44% to 23% between 2021 and 2022.
Europe's response proved surprisingly nimble. The EU launched an Energy Purchase Platform, coordinating joint procurement of gas, LNG, and hydrogen. Member states exceeded expectations, filling gas storage to 95.5% by November 2022, well above the 80% target.
Politics Meets Power
The energy world increasingly resembles a complex game of chess, where geopolitical moves ripple through supply chains. Political stability in energy-producing nations directly impacts their reliability as suppliers. The Russia-Ukraine conflict vividly demonstrates how geopolitical tensions threaten both energy security and climate goals.
The International Energy Agency's threat assessment reads like a modern thriller's plot points:
Geopolitical powder kegs
Cyberattacks on critical infrastructure.
Supply chain vulnerabilities.
Nature's growing fury through extreme weather
Breaking Free from Foreign Fuel
Nations are racing to achieve energy independence, much like a game of energy musical chairs. The United States charts its course through:
Boosting domestic energy technology manufacturing
Fortifying supply chains
Maximizing material recycling and recovery
Britain's Energy Security Strategy echoes a simple truth - home-grown clean power shields against volatile global fossil fuel prices. The EU's REPowerEU initiative similarly aims to modernize while cutting Russian fuel dependency.
Renewable energy emerges as the golden ticket to energy independence. The International Energy Agency suggests renewable resources could power all projected U.S. energy needs by 2050. The EU's ambitions match this outlook, targeting 42.5% renewable energy by 2030, with hopes of reaching 45%.
Yet infrastructure remains the Achilles' heel. For every dollar spent on renewable power, only 60 cents go to crucial grid and storage systems. True energy security demands grid investments to match clean energy growth pound for pound.
The energy landscape stands poised for remarkable transformation. Low-emission sources should generate over half the world's electricity before 2030. All three fossil fuels - coal, oil, and gas - face peak demand this decade. Like a well-choreographed dance, workforce planning must keep step with these changes to ensure both security and sustainability.
The Energy Sector's Grey Wave
The energy industry faces what I'd call a perfect demographic storm. The International Energy Agency's survey across 27 countries paints a sobering picture - qualified candidates have become as rare as hens' teeth across nearly all job categories.
Grey Temples, Golden Experience
(The numbers tell a story that keeps industry veterans awake at night). In the United States, 400,000 energy sector employees will hang up their hard hats within the next decade. The UK offshore sector mirrors this trend, with 43% of workers now over 45 years old.
Looking deeper into specific sectors reveals an even starker reality:
35% of UK oil and gas workers have passed their 50th birthday.
Fresh faces are scarce - just 12% of workers are under 30.
Renewables, surprisingly, skews older still - 16% over 60 compared to the industry's 12% average.
The implications stretch beyond mere statistics. Some companies report rig crews averaging 58 years old while maintaining assets meant to run another 20 years. It's rather like planning a marathon with runners nearing retirement age.
Mind the Skills Gap
The skills shortage has grown from a crack to a chasm. Three-quarters of employers now struggle to fill construction-related positions. The UK's predicament perfectly illustrates our collective challenge:
The green energy skills gap threatens net-zero targets, short roughly 200,000 workers.
Renewable energy can't seem to attract youth - only 13% under 30 years old.
The rot runs deeper than immediate staffing woes. New blood in the industry has nearly disappeared - workers with less than two years' experience plummeted from 16% in 2012 to under 4% in 2022. Perhaps most telling, 42% of those leaving energy and materials since 2016 abandoned the sector entirely.
Future projections read like a tale of two cities:
30 million new clean energy jobs could emerge under 1.5°C warming limits.
Yet 13 million fossil fuel workers face displacement.
The UK exemplifies the squeeze - by 2030, retirement will claim 20% of skilled
workers, leaving 216,000 to somehow fill 400,000 positions.
Specialized roles in grid infrastructure and nuclear power feel the pinch most acutely. While wages have kept pace better than other industries, money alone won't bridge the gap.
Emerging markets face their own uphill battle. Despite representing 60% of global workforce, developing economies outside China captured merely a quarter of clean energy job growth since 2019. Lower labor costs prove insufficient against twin barriers of limited skills and inadequate infrastructure.
Traditional Energy's Painful Pivot
The traditional energy sector reminds me of a patient facing major surgery - necessary for long-term survival but painful in recovery. Communities built around fossil fuels find themselves particularly vulnerable as industry transformation accelerates beyond anyone's expectations.
Counting the Cost
The numbers paint a stark picture - up to 1.7 million fossil fuel workers in America alone face potential job losses. Picture this: every day, roughly 100 coal miners join the ranks of those wondering about their future.
The industry giants aren't waiting around. One global energy behemoth, pulling in over GBP 154.07 billion annually, recently dropped a bombshell - 5,000 permanent staff and 3,000 contractors to go, wiping out 5% of their global workforce.
Square Pegs, Round Holes
Here's the rub - green jobs rarely sprout where fossil fuel jobs wither. The math proves particularly brutal - 98.97% of extraction workers won't find their way to green jobs under current conditions.
Two factors make this transition particularly thorny. Workers often can't or won't uproot their lives for distant opportunities. Meanwhile, new green industries seem to play favourites with location, choosing areas far from traditional energy hubs.
The oil and gas sector tells its own tale of woe. Since 2016, 42% of departing workers jumped ship to entirely different industries. Fresh faces have become rare birds indeed - those with less than two years' experience dropped from 16% in 2012 to a measly 4% by 2022.
When Communities Catch a Cold
Oil and gas towns know a truth city planners sometimes forget - when energy job levels sneeze, entire communities catch cold. The ripple effect touches everything:
Supply chains crumble like dominoes.
Local shops watch their customers vanish.
Business earnings shrink like wool in hot water.
Community services face the budget axe.
British energy communities stand at their own crossroads. OEUK's crystal ball shows 35,000 jobs hanging by a thread by 2029. Adding salt to the wound, skilled workers increasingly eye opportunities in Middle Eastern energy hubs.
Yet hope isn't entirely lost. Britain's robust regulatory framework, coupled with cutting-edge technology access and promising green career paths, might just turn the tide. Germany and Denmark's transitions offer particularly valuable lessons for communities seeking their own path forward.
The road ahead demands delicate balance - rather like walking a tightrope while juggling technical needs and community welfare. Success will come not from choosing between energy security and social stability, but from finding ways to achieve both.
Green Energy's Growing Pains
The International Energy Agency paints an ambitious picture - 30 million jobs needed in clean energy to reach net zero by 2050. Rather like training for a marathon, this transition demands both careful preparation and endurance.
The New Energy Professional
Tomorrow's energy workforce needs a curious mix of skills. Picture this: by 2050, half our energy workers will need basic education, 37% secondary schooling, and 13% university degrees.
The technical shopping list reads rather specifically:
Keeping complex equipment running safely
Mastering inspection and monitoring systems
Understanding grid integration's intricate dance
Troubleshooting when things go sideways.
Yet technical prowess tells only half the story. The sector increasingly hunts for problem-solvers, team players, and creative minds - skills no textbook can truly teach. Green entrepreneurship has become rather like gold dust, particularly as sustainable tech start-ups multiply like rabbits.
The International Renewable Energy Agency suggests the renewable energy workforce could reach 43 million by 2050. Rather sobering when you consider 60% of clean energy jobs demand specialized training.
Mind the Gap
Here's an uncomfortable truth - our education system hasn't quite caught up with reality. Back in 2019, 68% of energy-focused degrees still pointed students toward fossil fuels, leaving renewable energy with a mere 32% slice of the pie.
The Global South faces particularly steep hurdles. Clean energy degrees remain as rare as snow in summer. Sub-Saharan Africa's challenge runs deeper still - one-third of children miss school entirely, while literacy rates for 15–24-year-olds hover at 75%, well below other developing regions' 90%.
The investment mountain looks rather daunting. We need to quadruple investments between 2024 and 2030, reaching roughly GBP 3.57 trillion - 5% of global GDP. Global South nations face an even steeper climb, needing to triple annual clean energy investments from GBP 611.50 billion to GBP 1.75–GBP 2.22 trillion by early 2030.
Perhaps most telling, less than 40% of Paris Agreement signatories include skills training in their climate action plans. Even fossil fuel veterans need additional training, though their skills offer useful starting points. Petroleum engineers can pivot to geothermal, chemical engineers to clean fuels, and offshore workers to renewable energy operations.
Educational enrolment trends tell their own worrying tale. Major economies like China, the United States, and European Union watch their relevant programs stagnate or shrink. Rather like watching storm clouds gather while planning an outdoor event - we can see the challenge coming, but preparation seems oddly slow.
Tales from the Energy Frontier
I've always found it fascinating how different countries tackle the same challenge. Two European nations have written particularly compelling chapters in the energy transition story, offering lessons that feel rather like a master class in workforce evolution.
Germany's Green Revolution
Germany's renewable ambitions remind me of a carefully orchestrated symphony - they'll need 350,000 additional skilled workers by 2030. Rather like building a house, you need more than just architects - you need the full spectrum of talent.
The numbers tell part of the story - 200,000 people currently power the renewable and hydrogen sectors. Yet Deutsche Energiewende (Germany's energy transition) reaches far beyond power plants into logistics, transport, and administration. It's rather like watching a city rebuild itself while keeping the lights on.
The regulatory framework has evolved rather cleverly, making space for smaller players alongside energy giants. Think of it as turning an ocean liner into a fleet of speedboats - different skills, different approaches, but heading toward the same destination.
Siemens offers a particularly bright example:
Carbon neutrality targeted for 2030.
Half their revenue now flows from green tech.
Wind energy operations created 20,000 new jobs.
Denmark's Masterclass
Denmark's story reads rather like a well-crafted novel. The world's largest oil producer brave enough to say goodbye to black gold, they've bound themselves to climate neutrality by 2050. Rather refreshing, really.
The transition touches 26,000 lives - 10,000 in direct oil and gas roles, another 16,000 in supporting jobs. But rather than letting workers sink or swim, Denmark crafted a rather elegant solution:
Golden handshakes for those near retirement
Offshore expertise redirected to wind energy.
Fresh opportunities sprouting in renewable sectors.
The results? Rather spectacular. Renewable energy surged from 3% to over 80% between 1990 and 2020. The wind industry now employs 31,000 people, rather like watching a new forest grow where once stood a single tree.
Denmark's famous 'flexicurity' system offers what I'd call a safety net with dignity. Workers can move freely between jobs, knowing support systems will catch them if they stumble. Rather civilized, wouldn't you say?
Their success rests on four rather solid pillars:
Heavy investment in research
Smart feed-in tariffs
Rock-solid institutional support
Community ownership of projects
Germany and Denmark prove rather conclusively that energy transition needn't be a zero-sum game. With careful planning and robust support systems, workforce transformation can keep pace with energy security. Rather like a well-choreographed dance, really - when everyone knows the steps, the performance looks effortless.
Building Tomorrow's Energy Workforce
The energy sector reminds me of a vast classroom where everyone's simultaneously teacher and student. Public and private organizations worldwide have created what amounts to a rather impressive educational ecosystem, though gaps still need filling.
Learning the Trade
The Department of Energy's Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals project rather cleverly tackles workforce quality head-on. Think of it as creating a common language for residential energy professionals.
Earth Advantage takes a refreshingly hands-on approach. Rather like learning to ride a bicycle, their programs emphasize practical experience over theory. The Interstate Renewable Energy Council keeps tabs on solar training quality through ISPQ standards. Rather useful, really, having someone mind the shop.
Academia Meets Industry
I've always found university partnerships fascinating - rather like watching theory and practice dance together. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory collaborates with more than 1,000 partners across industry, academia, and government. Quite the party, that.
Louisiana's River Parishes Community College shows particular ingenuity, operating an 80-foot distillation unit. Their Future of Energy Workforce Consortium focuses on three rather crucial areas:
Growing fresh talent
Polishing existing skills
Keeping instructors sharp
Bridgwater & Taunton College and the University of Bristol have cooked up something rather special. Their partnership tackles the skills gap in net-zero critical sectors. Rather like building a bridge while measuring the distance, if you ask me.
Professional Stamps of Approval
The energy industry loves its credentials - rather like collecting badges of honour. The Certified Energy Manager qualification from the Association of Energy Engineers stands as the crown jewel. It demands expertise across industrial systems, HVAC, energy audits, and fuel pricing.
The Building Performance Institute offers its own comprehensive certification menu. Their qualifications ensure homes meet international energy codes through:
Complete home checkups
Climate control mastery
Energy detective work
Digital learning has become rather like electricity itself - essential and everywhere. Online platforms bring several treats to the table:
Quality learning served consistently.
Industry wisdom ready to go.
Safety training on tap
The renewable sector's appetite for training never quite seems satisfied. Career progression proves rather crucial for keeping talent. Investment in training pays off in job satisfaction - rather like planting a garden and watching it grow.
Looking ahead, task-specific training must take centre stage. The Department of Energy champions various creative approaches. These initiatives aim to nurture both residential energy efficiency and our burgeoning solar workforce. Rather like preparing for a marathon - success demands both strategy and stamina.
Government's Green Transition Playbook
The halls of power echo with ambitious plans these days. Governments worldwide craft policies like master chess players, moving pieces to protect workers while advancing toward a greener economy.
Training programs in welding, electrical engineering, and construction
Fresh courses and training centres with career guides at the helm
Skills passports helping oil and gas veterans leap to clean energy.
Numbers paint an encouraging picture - 90% of oil and gas workers already possess skills for clean energy roles. Scotland shows particular wisdom here, investing £3.7 million in the Energy Skills Passport.
The Office for Clean Energy Jobs, born from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, stands guard over three principles:
Fair wages and decent working conditions
Union voices in policymaking
Cross-sector collaboration
Local Solutions, National Vision
Money flows where transformation grows. The Office for Clean Energy Skills Fund spreads £1 million to each chosen region, like planting seeds in fertile soil. Four areas lead the charge:
Cheshire West and Chester
North and Northeast Lincolnshire
Pembrokeshire
Aberdeen
Each region charts its own course, tailoring solutions to local needs. Aberdeen's story particularly catches my eye - their pilot programs help oil workers find their feet in renewables.
The Clean Power Action Plan takes aim at skill gaps with surgical precision. It's refreshing to see decarbonization viewed as a tool for levelling regional inequalities.
Catch22's program shows particular promise. Operating across London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Norfolk, they've extended a helping hand to over 1,000 job seekers. Their toolkit includes:
Personal career coaching
Training funds for transition roles
Direct employer connections
Ongoing support
These initiatives remind me of building a house - you need both solid foundations (workforce development) and strong walls (economic revival). High-quality union jobs combined with targeted business support create something sustainable. The goal? Every community should taste the fruits of green job growth while keeping our energy secure.
Tomorrow's Energy Workforce
The energy sector's growth reminds me of watching a garden flourish - 2.5 million new jobs added in 2023, bringing our total workforce to 67 million. Rather like planning for next season's harvest, we must think carefully about tomorrow's talent needs.
Where the Jobs Grow
The numbers tell quite a story - 312,300 new energy and utilities workers needed by 2030, split between 205,500 fresh positions and 106,800 replacements for retiring veterans. The power industry leads this charge, hunting for 156,900 additional workers.
Clean energy sectors bloom particularly vigorously:
Solar PV welcomed half a million new faces in 2023.
Electric vehicle manufacturing sparked 410,000 new roles.
Wind energy pays rather handsomely at £51,000 yearly.
Today's landscape reveals some rather pressing puzzles:
40% of energy firms can't find data scientists.
68% of energy data teams are younger than my last car - under five years old.
95% of data scientists spend their days crystal-ball gazing at energy forecasts.
Looking ahead, the job market rather resembles a shifting kaleidoscope. Energy efficiency and low-carbon heating lead the employment surge through 2030, with CCUS, hydrogen, and transport sectors not far behind.
Growing Tomorrow's Talent
Australia's National Energy Workforce Strategy (NEWS) shows particular wisdom, addressing:
Skills gaps and data blind spots
Talent attraction and retention
Training for emerging roles
Regional workforce hurdles
I've learned in this industry that growing skilled workers takes time - rather like aging fine wine. Five to seven years for specialized roles. Rather sobering when you think about it.
Energy & Utility Skills champions several worthy causes:
Equity and diversity in the workplace
Shaping government strategy
Building both academic and vocational pathways
Clean energy pays rather well these days - wind sector jobs average £51,000, while heat and buildings hover around £44,000. Rather attractive compared to UK averages.
The International Energy Agency makes a good point about quick wins - upskilling related trades offers faster results. Plumbers and electricians can transition to heat pumps or solar installation, with higher wages covering training costs.
Yet we face a curious bottleneck - not enough teachers to train our future workforce. Success demands clear signals from employers to keep training programs viable. Rather like conducting an orchestra, really - all players must read from the same sheet music for the performance to work.
Bridging the Workforce Gap: The Role of TGRC
The energy transition is not just a story of infrastructure and policy—it's a talent challenge of unprecedented scale. The world can set ambitious targets for renewable expansion, grid modernization, and energy security, but without a skilled workforce to deliver these projects, they remain just that—targets. This is where The Green Recruitment Company (TGRC) finds itself at the centre of the energy workforce transformation.
Energy companies are already feeling the strain. From offshore wind developers struggling to find experienced electrical engineers to grid operators battling a shortage of power systems specialists, the cracks in workforce planning are widening. The numbers don’t lie—277,000 vacancies in the UK by 2030, 30 million new energy jobs globally, and an aging workforce that is steadily stepping away from the sector. The problem isn’t just about supply; it’s about alignment.
TGRC has spent over a decade embedded in this challenge, working across renewables, cleantech, and energy infrastructure to connect specialist talent with businesses that need them. But recruitment in this space isn’t about simply filling vacancies—it’s about future-proofing the workforce. Companies that fail to build a long-term hiring strategy risk finding themselves with the infrastructure but without the expertise to maintain it.
The real challenge isn’t just hiring—it’s attracting and retaining the right talent. TGRC works with clients to navigate:
Labour mobility: Supporting companies in identifying talent pools across regions and designing relocation and incentive strategies.
Reskilling and transition hiring: Helping firms transition oil and gas professionals into offshore wind, grid modernization, and hydrogen.
Strategic workforce planning: Working with businesses to anticipate skills shortages and develop hiring roadmaps that align with energy security priorities.
Diversity and inclusion in energy hiring: Addressing the talent crisis also means broadening the talent pipeline, attracting underrepresented groups into the sector.
Recruitment isn’t the afterthought of energy security—it’s the foundation of it. Governments, businesses, and investors can set the policy direction, but without the human capital to execute it, the sector will stagnate. Energy security without workforce security is a false economy.
As energy firms scale up, adapt, and evolve, TGRC continues to be the trusted partner ensuring that the workforce transition doesn’t just keep pace with change—it drives it.
The Road Ahead
Energy security finds itself at rather a delicate moment. While renewable energy dangles the promise of 30 million new positions by 2050, finding qualified hands to grasp these opportunities proves increasingly challenging.
The numbers tell a sobering tale. Picture this: 400,000 energy veterans retiring within a decade, while the UK alone scrambles to fill 277,000 positions. Yet hope springs from unexpected corners. Germany and Denmark show us rather elegantly how strategic workforce planning, comprehensive training, and government support can light the path forward.
I've watched various solutions emerge like pieces of a complex puzzle. Regional initiatives, vocational programs, and university partnerships each play their part. Rather like building a cathedral, these programs work best when government policy supports both individual workers and local economies. The energy sector cannot afford to choose between today's operations and tomorrow's talent - both must flourish.
Energy security, at its heart, rests on the shoulders of skilled workers who understand both traditional and renewable systems. Rather like learning to ride a bicycle while building a better one, this transition demands balance and foresight. Those nations mastering this workforce transformation will find themselves rather well-positioned for energy independence and economic stability. The path ahead demands unwavering commitment to workforce development, ensuring our energy systems remain as reliable as the sunrise through this remarkable transition.
