What are the key energy employment trends we expect to see in 2022?
Over the past five years, the Global Energy Talent Index (GETI) has gained a reputation as a trusted benchmark of employment and workforce trends across the energy industry.
Compiled annually by Airswift and Energy Jobline, GETI is based on survey responses from workers across the oil and gas, renewables, petrochemicals and power sectors.
With the launch of the 2022 GETI report, we’re looking at the energy industry’s top priorities and challenges for the year ahead, particularly with consideration to the great resignation and the notion of employees seeking a change in career.
For example, the report’s findings revealed that over 75% of energy professionals would consider a career change within three years, with oil and gas, power and nuclear professionals favouring a switch to renewables.
Read on to find out more of the top employment trends for 2022, with insights into salaries, global mobility, career mobility and more.
Get more insight into employee ambitions within the energy industry by downloading the full report.
Global mobility trends in the energy industry
The energy industry is globally dynamic. Project life cycles can span multiple continents and attract international candidates willing to relocate to work on them.
By embracing this and widening their employee search to countries beyond their business location, organisations benefit from experience and skills gained elsewhere to:
- Meet project needs
- Upskill their workforce,
- Increase safety
- Reduce project delays
The GETI report showed positive results for global mobility, with 88% of respondents claiming that they would consider relocating for their job.
Career progression was cited as the biggest factor attracting talent to another region, with 43% of respondents stating this as their main reason for being attracted to another area.
Europe topped the overall list of preferred locations (27%), followed by the Middle East (18%) and Asia (15%).
What impact does global mobility have on energy recruiting and hiring?
The energy industry is already heavily globally mobile, but with more and more workers stating their willingness to relocate in order to boost their career, it’s important for organisations to put measures in place to promote career progression.
Europe was a popular destination for potential relocators - especially within renewables.
European firms in particular should expect to welcome more expatriates and ensure they are highlighting and promoting development opportunities, benefits and progression plans in order to attract the best talent.
Career mobility trends in the energy industry
Career progression is at the forefront of employees’ minds and is a significant influence for switching to other sectors.
This suggests that energy companies need to be doing more to ensure their staff have a clear progression path if they want to keep hold of top talent.
The most commonly cited reason was a desire for career progression, followed by interest in the wider industry and innovation.
The biggest source of talent competition is the renewable energy sector, highlighted as the most popular sector to relocate to by 44% of respondents.
Those working in the renewables sector cited the power and oil and gas sectors as the areas they’d be most inclined to move to, with 47% and 37% of votes respectively.
The report also found that many energy professionals would consider switching to a new industry entirely within the next three years, with technology being the preferred choice for a potential move. This suggests that employers could be incorporating skills training for those with an interest in the tech space, rather than hiring tech talent from outside of the industry.
The skills needed for smart grids, from digital twins to data analytics, are easily transferrable to the technology industry. Giving professionals more power and responsibility for driving sector-wide innovation will be critical to winning the war for talent against Silicon Valley competitors. - Josh Young, Director, Energy Jobline
Will career mobility impact recruitment trends in the energy industry?
Competition for energy talent is increasing. The findings from GETI suggest that progression and development are essential to attracting talent that is dynamic and willing to relocate internationally.
Proactive organisations need to make sure they are designing talent pipeline strategies with defined career pathways and opportunities for assignments that stretch and develop their employees.
Progressive organisations implementing these suggestions will benefit from a stronger employee brand proposition, which will aid in the attraction and retention of career motivated, talented and enthusiastic teams.
Crafting the employee brand proposition to attract candidates outside the organisation’s traditional sector could be a successful strategy.
The findings from GETI demonstrate that many technical specialists with transferable skills are interested in moving to new sectors.
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Opportunities and challenges for the energy industry in 2022
During the 2022 GETI survey, energy professionals highlighted the most important opportunities and biggest challenges they feel the industry faces over the next three years.
The top three opportunities identified were:
- Transition to cleaner energy
- Advances in engineering
- Changing ways of working
- COVID-19 or similar public health factors
- Transition to cleaner energy
- Economic outlook
Encouragingly, energy employees are optimistic about their company's adaption to the energy transition, with 44% agreeing that their company has changed direction to adapt, and 56% feeling positive about the matter.
There’s a robust foundation of positivity around the energy transition here, and I’m encouraged to see new ways of working featuring so prominently - Janette Marx, CEO, Airswift
Download the full Global Energy Talent Index
For more insights into the energy industry’s talent landscape, and to get a clear picture of how the landscape looks for each individual sector, download the 2022 GETI report today.
Get more insights about energy employment trends by downloading the full GETI report.
This post was written by: Callum Donaldson, Regional Sales Director - North America
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