How to Win or Lose: The Energy Transition Career Challenge

Happy Earth Day! We got this. If you stay focused, we all win together.

Kepler Cheuvreux’s recent analysis underscores the pivotal role of human capital in Europe’s energy transition, emphasizing the urgent need to address labor shortages in renewable energy sectors. As Europe accelerates its decarbonization agenda, labor market dynamics including post-pandemic skill mismatches, aging workforces, and global competition for talent, threaten to delay projects, inflate costs, and weaken strategic autonomy.

Europe’s commitment to decarbonization has entered a critical phase. With binding targets to expand renewable energy capacity and geopolitical shocks underscoring the urgency of energy security, the success of this transition hinges on one resource: people. Yet, recent labor market dynamics, from pandemic driven shortages to supply chain pressures, have revealed a widening green skills gap that threatens to slow deployment, drive up costs, and undermine strategic autonomy.

Why This Matters

• Understanding the Green Skills Gap: The renewable energy sector demands a diverse mix of expertise, from Ph.D. level engineers modeling turbine aerodynamics to skilled electricians wiring solar arrays. However, the post-COVID tight labor market has exposed acute shortages at every level. Key technical roles (e.g., HVAC technicians, electricians) are especially scarce, while competition for STEM graduates intensifies as adjacent industries likewise pursue talent. 

• Green-driven Occupations: These roles as described in the report as jobs that contribute to emissions reductions or support green activities. It categorizes these occupations into four main types: 

  • Green New and Emerging Occupations: New jobs with specific tasks and requirements related to green technologies, such as solar photovoltaic installers and carbon trading analysts. 

  • Green-Enhanced Skills Occupations: Existing jobs that are modified due to the green transition, such as modified roles for architects and specialty automotive technicians. 

  • Green Increased Demand Occupations: Existing jobs likely to see heightened demand without significant task changes, directly contributing to emissions reduction (like environmental scientists) or enabling green economic activities (like construction workers). 

  • Other: Occupations that do not contribute to green goals, which include roles from both high and low-emission sectors. 

  
  

Details About 20% of the OECD workforce growth from 2015 to 2019 came from green jobs, in sectors like construction, transport, and utilities. It emphasizes the importance of skills relevant to the green transition, which includes competencies necessary for tasks in growing green-driven jobs, and acknowledges the varied definitions and interpretations of "green jobs" across different contexts 

• Demand Outstrips Supply: The European Commission forecasts 3.5 million new jobs in renewables by 2030. Much of this growth will concentrate in high impact areas like offshore wind installation and grid modernization. Yet, without a sufficient pipeline of qualified workers, project backlogs may lengthen, permitting delays could compound, and costs are likely to rise, jeopardizing both climate goals and energy security. 

• Structural Constraints in the Workforce: Several underlying trends exacerbate the mismatch between openings and qualified candidates: 

• Ageing Workforce: A significant cohort of technicians and engineers is nearing retirement, taking decades of institutional knowledge with them. 

• Eroding Manufacturing Skills: As EU industrial output evolves, traditional trades and onsite fabrication expertise have diminished, limiting the pool for sector specific roles. 

• Gender Imbalance: Women represent barely a quarter of energy sector workers, an untapped talent reservoir that, if engaged, could help ease shortages and foster innovation. 

• Productivity Pressures: Slower productivity gains in certain markets further strain margins, leaving less room for on-the-job training or productivity enhancing investments. 

• Managing Human Capital: Turnover and retention rates, particularly in fast growing firms, signal gaps in culture, career pathways, or compensation. Companies with above average churn (e.g., select windfarm developers and EPC contractors) face repeated recruitment costs and onboarding delays. Conversely, firms investing in clear progression plans, upskilling programs, and competitive benefits report stronger retention and smoother project delivery. 

• Leveraging Staffing Services and Digitalization: Market constraints are creating demand for specialized staffing agencies and digital platforms that optimize workforce allocation. By automating routine tasks, such as condition monitoring, remote inspections, or administrative workflows, companies can reassign personnel to higher value activities. Strategic partnerships with talent firms also help bridge gaps quickly, tailoring recruitment pipelines to emerging project needs. 

• A Broader, Global Context: Clean energy jobs now outstrip fossil fuel employment in many advanced economies, reflecting shifting investment patterns and technological innovation. As Europe scales up its green infrastructure, lessons from global best practices, such as Germany’s vocational training model or Denmark’s offshore wind academies, offer blueprints for building resilient talent ecosystems. 

  
  

The Numbers

Finally, as shown below, global employment in clean energy vs. fossil fuels 2019-24E, clean energy roles growth continues to outpace the fossil fuel sector.

Total workforce and changes in employment in clean energy technologies, 2022-23, several energy transition segments saw spectacular growth in their workforces between 2022 and 2023, with solar PV and battery storage leading in terms of the year-on-year change. Globally, employment in solar PV grew by 30% over 2019-22 and by about 13% over 2022-23. EVs and batteries employment grew by 148% over 2019-22, and by a further 18% over 2022-23.

According to the investment bank, Kepler Cheuvreux, looking ahead to 2030, the largest employment creation is expected in EVs and batteries, followed by low-emissions power generation, grids, and storage, and end-use efficiency under the IEA’s Stated Policies Scenario (STEPS).

Action Items

The report "Mind the Green Skills Gap" reveals a stark divide in Europe's energy transition. Winners like Ørsted and EDPR, which excel in talent retention and digitalization, are outpacing losers. Losers are high-turnover firms and those neglecting workforce development.

As renewable deployment accelerates, companies investing in competitive wages, upskilling, and automation will dominate, while those not adapting will struggle with costly turnover and skill shortages. Europe’s ability to meet its climate targets hinges on bridging this talent gap, making human capital strategy as critical as technological innovation in the race to net-zero. 

• Career Changers: Focus on gaining project experience and developing analytical skills. More education is not needed to enter the green sector. Experience doing green work is what matters more than studying green work.

• Institutions: Focus on hiring individuals with the skills to collaborate and get work done.