GETI 2021: resilient renewables professionals positive for years ahead

LONDON, UK, 12 January 2021, The fifth annual Global Energy Talent Index (GETI), the world’s largest energy recruitment and employment trends report, is released today, showing that renewables professionals remain unfazed by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The report by Airswift, the global workforce solutions provider for the energy, process and infrastructure sectors, and Energy Jobline, the world’s leading jobsite for the energy and engineering industries, reveals that 77 per cent of those working in renewables believe that the sector has grown over the past year and 85 per cent expect it to grow further over the next three years. Indeed, more than half of survey respondents anticipate “strong growth”.

Renewables professionals and hiring managers do acknowledge the pandemic as a potential barrier to growth, with 56 per cent citing it as among the biggest challenges facing the sector. However, 66 per cent of respondents are confident that their firm is resilient to the changes it faces. Added to this is a sense of optimism around advances in engineering techniques and technologies, which were identified by 70 per cent of respondents as among the most important opportunities facing renewables over the next three years.

Janette Marx, Chief Executive Officer at Airswift, says: “There is no denying that this has been a challenging year for the energy industry, and COVID-19-related instability is certainly being felt by the workforce. Yet the energy transition leaves renewables businesses well positioned to grow over the coming years.

“Of course, the transition takes time and there are challenges along the way – COVID-19 and the availability of capital chief among them. However, renewables professionals are motivated by the longer-term opportunities on offer – and the potential for engineering and technological innovations to help seize them is really exciting.”

In addition to providing much-needed insights into the uncertainty posed by the events of the past 12 months, GETI is also the industry’s most comprehensive salary and mobility study. Key findings within renewables include:

• More professionals reported a pay increase (35 per cent) than a decrease (16 per cent) this year. Nonetheless, sector pay was much less buoyant than last year
• Professionals (67 per cent) and hiring managers (60 per cent) alike are optimistic of a pay increase next year
• Eighty-five per cent of professionals would consider relocating to another region for their job, with career progression opportunities (47 per cent) by far the most popular factor in attracting respondents to a new location
• Power and oil and gas remain the biggest sources of competition for talent, winning the votes of 54 per cent and 33 per cent of those open to switching sectors, respectively

Josh Young, Director at Energy Jobline, says: “Renewables businesses have a huge opportunity in the years ahead, but only if they continue to  build upon their efforts to recruit bright young people. This means increasing the emphasis on the innovative nature of the work and on the role of digital technology in providing new and stimulating career paths that can extend far into the future.”

Airswift and Energy Jobline surveyed 16,000 energy professionals and hiring managers in 166 countries across five industry sub-sectors: oil and gas, renewables, power, nuclear and petrochemicals. The report is available to download here.