Renewables: An attractive career destination

8 June 2022 — In our recent blogs, Recruiting for transferable skills and Diversify talent to diversify the energy mix, we shared two key strategies we feel are needed to meet the ambitious growth of the renewable energy sector. We talked about recruiting for transferable skills and dropping the notion that prior experience in the sector is required to succeed. And, to stand any chance of tripling the headcount, which is needed to keep to the IRENA's World Energy Transitions Outlook: 1.5°C Pathway, we will need to significantly diversify the sectors from which the renewables sector sources talent.

In this series’ third and final blog, we explore the relative attractiveness of the renewables sector to talent, as without it being an appealing option to those from other sectors, it will simply not be possible to enact the two strategies that we explored in our blogs.  

The recent Most Attractive Employer Report (2021) from Universum shows that the top five aspects of employer attraction for engineering students are those that offer: 

1. High future earnings
2. Training and development
3. Leadership opportunities
4. Secure employment 
5. Competitive salary

The Universum data demonstrates that the case for engineering students to consider the renewables sector for future employment is very strong. Any sector that will be in high demand will need to compete for talent, which will likely lead to competitive salaries being offered.

As the renewables sector grows and new technologies emerge, the need to train and develop staff will be high, and as experience is built in a sector that needs to triple in size over the next decade to achieve the 1.5°C Pathway, inevitable leadership opportunities will present themselves to those disposed towards managing and leading others. #

More leadership opportunities further reinforce the likelihood of high future earnings. Crucially, the renewables sector is seen as the long-term solution to our energy needs, and as a result, it offers highly secure employment. So, you could say things are looking positive for the renewables sector in terms of its general propensity to be deemed attractive. 

Further analysis carried out by AMS on the engineering community in the UK is very reassuring. When looking at how satisfied engineers are in their sector that they work, the energy/renewable/nuclear sector (excluding oil and gas) comes out on top. In all three categories of ‘salary satisfaction’, ‘job satisfaction’ and ‘feeling valued in job’, no other sector comes out more strongly than energy/renewable/nuclear. As table 1 below shows, this is overwhelmingly positive for the industry: 

Table 1: In which sectors are engineers most happy? 

 NB: Data has been heat-mapped to represent the most attractive (green) to least attractive (red).  
Source: djsresearch.co.uk 

“Engineers in the renewables sector are more satisfied with their salaries, their jobs and their sense of value than in all other sectors of engineering” 

The keen-eyed of you will also notice that not only do engineers seem very satisfied in the energy/renewable/nuclear sector, but they are also one of the least likely to be considering a change of job. It may surprise some that the oil and gas sector was where engineers are least likely to be considering a change of job, given the much-needed phase-out of fossil fuels to enable the energy transition.

However, according to the ‘Preparing for an Aging Workforce’ report, approximately one-quarter of the current energy sector workforce (the majority of whom are in oil and gas roles) is over 55 and, within seven years, will retire. Therefore, it may be that engineers in oil and gas may just be sitting tight, knowing they can see themselves through to retirement. 

Our analysis also confirms that salary is another crucial factor in determining whether engineers in certain sectors are likely to consider a job change. As we have seen with the Universum data, money is still a significant consideration in terms of the attractiveness of employers and sectors, and as the table below shows, the energy sector is leading the way as a whole. 

Table 2: In which sectors are engineers paid the most?  

NB: Data has been heat-mapped to represent the most attractive (green) to least attractive (red).  
Source: djsresearch.co.uk  

Once again, this is very encouraging for the overall attractiveness of the renewables sector (and, of course, explains why engineers in oil and gas seem less likely to change jobs, despite feeling undervalued with relatively low job satisfaction).

And whilst oil and gas engineers may be well paid, satisfaction levels in the renewables sector are very favourable in comparison, as Chart 1 below shows: 

 Chart 1: Average sentiment – Oil and Gas vs. Renewables   

Source: djsresearch.co.uk 

To back up the analysis above, according to the 2020 “Clean Jobs, Better Jobs” report, which details job outlook, salary and benefits within the renewables sector, benefits in this area outperform those in traditional energy.  

“Employees within the renewables sector approve of their CEO 9% more and would recommend their company 7% more than their oil and gas counterparts” 

All this analysis suggests that renewables is very attractive and potentially quite lucrative as a sector. Therefore, there are many reasons for talent acquisition teams globally to play their part in accelerating the energy transition. They can do this by changing the mindset of hiring managers and convincing them to consider candidates with transferable skills and from a much more diverse range of sources. 

While this is encouraging, without significant movement on some of the more powerful enablers of the energy transition, such as transformational policy change, government-funded training/investment schemes and strategic reskilling programmes, there is only so much that can be achieved.

These enablers require huge investment and political will, with bulletproof business cases to secure the necessary funds. Talent acquisition teams can play their part, but much more is needed for the sector to achieve its ambitions. 

With the geopolitical instability we see in the world right now, we are already witnessing new global dynamics in the energy sector. Let’s hope that the people in power can make the right decisions on our behalf and for our future so we can accelerate the energy transition for the benefit of everyone. 

If you would like to talk to us about recruiting for the energy or renewables sector, please get in touch.

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