What skills can empower the workforce of the future?

Source: Shutterstock/Farrukh Junaid Fakhar Sha

The future of work is green, and the time to create a tomorrow-ready workforce is now.

Countries worldwide have established targets to meet the energy transition. However, governments and companies need to focus on building a future-proof workforce to ensure they will succeed in their net-zero emissions goals.

In 2020, about 12 million people were employed in the renewable energy sector, and it is predicted that the green economy will create up to 43 million new jobs by 2050.

The Global Energy Talent Index (GETI), the world’s most comprehensive energy recruitment and employment trends report by Airswift and Energy Jobline, provides the latest insights on skill sets. We have listed the key findings below:

Technical skills are now the most important for creating a flexible, future-proof workforce for 37%t of respondents, followed by behavioural skills for 22%.
Nearly half of hiring managers also pinpointed adaptability and adapting to change as the key behavioural skill they look for when hiring talent from outside of the sector.
Comparing technical skills desired by hiring managers versus those possessed by professionals, we can say that engineering and planning have the most significant gap.
Engineering is the most sought-after technical skill for 57% of hiring managers when recruiting outside talent. Yet, 49% of existing professionals also ranked engineering as the most important transferrable technical skill they possess.

The most in-demand skills

Source: Global Energy Talent Index (GETI Report, 2022).

Johanna Schmidtke, Lecturer, University of Colorado Denver Global Energy Management, notes:

Engineering skills are vitally important to an industry in technological transition. It’s not a surprise that hiring managers continue to bring them in from the outside – the appetite for engineers won’t go away anytime soon.

How to equip workers with the skills required to meet green jobs

At LinkedIn — which has nearly 800 million members worldwide — the share of green talent increased from 9.6% in 2015 to 13.3% in 2021. A growth rate of 38.5%. The biggest challenge here is to equip workers with the future skills required to meet this growing demand.

While job postings requiring green skills grew at 8% annually over the past five years, the share of green talent has grown at roughly 6% annually in the same period on the platform.

According to the Global Green Skills Report 2022, the Renewables & Environment sector will outnumber Oil & Gas in total jobs on the LinkedIn platform by 2023.

Source: Global Green Skills Report (LinkedIn, 2022).

Training internal team and recruiting from outside

63% of respondents say the best way to get the necessary skills to handle the challenges of a changing energy landscape is to improve in-house learning and development, followed by re-training existing employees.

Only 36% believe recruiting from outside the sector should be the priority. To attract and retain green energy talent, an essential strategy is to create a culture of growth, empowering the team. People want to feel valued and seek career progression.

Source: Global Energy Talent Index (GETI Report, 2022).

Facing a skills shortage and a global war for talent, renewables firms must focus on harnessing the expertise of existing employees and recruiting from outside the sector.

Johanna Schmidtke, said:

The convergence of energy around renewables opens the door to a wave of new engineering techniques from conventional sectors such as offshore oil and gas, which have clear applications for renewables sub-sectors like offshore wind and hydrogen. Conventional energy businesses already have many of the engineering capabilities that renewables firms need so there is an opportunity to mass introduce techniques and tools in the new markets.”

Want to transition from fossil fuels to Clean Energy? Airswift has worked with many STEM professionals from diverse sectors looking to become an integral part of the energy transition. Watch our video to find transferable skills and tips for transitioning between the industries.

Nana Terra, Airswift Content Marketing Coordinator, discusses the primary transferable skills and gives 5 tips to succeed in your clean energy job search.

Airswift can help you deliver clean energy projects

We are currently partnering with many companies seeking to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency in their operations.

Also, Airswift is committed to supporting the energy transition by investing and training a team focused on power generation from clean energy sources, like hydropower, bioenergy, offshore wind, onshore wind, green hydrogen, and solar.

With over 60 offices worldwide, 1,000 employees, and 9,000 contractors, Airswift has successfully placed professionals across a wide range of disciplines. Our dedicated team can support clients throughout the full renewable project lifecycle from design to construction and connect the right talent to the most significant energy projects.