Schneider Electric: Closing the Energy Management Skills Gap
Change is happening across the width and breadth of the energy sector, and with great speed.
One of the challenges that arises with such exponential momentum is the need for a skilled workforce to match demand.
McKinsey research shows that, by 2030, 14.5% of the global workforce will need to adapt their skillsets to account for the energy sector’s evolution.
“Organisations are becoming more dependent on their electrical backbone to support operations, digital transformation, automation and manufacturing,” says David Pownall, VP Services at Schneider Electric UK & Ireland.
“Electrical engineers and their specialist expertise are critical to the installation, safety and maintenance of this electrical infrastructure.
“There is an urgent need to build skills to embrace new technologies, drive modernisation, improve performance, reduce downtime and comply with changing safety regulations.
"Not only that, but training is critical to career enhancement and a key foundation of a positive employee experience, attracting and retaining people when we’re facing a significant skills gap crisis.”
Bridging the energy skills gap
To tackle the rate of new jobs and that the number filling them is lagging behind, Schneider Electric, like many other leading industry players, is taking action.
The Schneider Electric Training programme in the UK and Ireland is a decisive step towards addressing the significant skills gap in the energy sector, ensuring that the workforce is equipped to handle the growing complexities associated with digital transformation and energy management.
The extensive training programme is designed to provide customers, partners and engineers with a single point of access to a wide array of training options and resources.
The training will be delivered through a combination of in-person courses at specialist academies and on-demand courses for Continuing Professional Development (CPD).
“Smarter engineers, equipped with the skills needed today and a clear development path to build expertise for the future, make for smarter businesses,” David adds.
Schneider’s training covers the likes of AI, automation of machinery and equipment, innovations in power and energy management as well as safety standards and regulations.
Why is there a skills gap in the energy sector?
There is a growing list of reasons why the energy sector is facing an ever-increasing skills gap.
As well as the aforementioned exponential growth it is experiencing and the additional complexities in the mix thanks to its additional complexities alongside demand, an ageing workforce, lack of training and education and a digitising sector is all putting a strain on the industry.
The skills gap is not area-specific, either.
Worldwide, 56% of recruiters claim the ageing workforce is the biggest contributor to the skills gap and 40% believe insufficient education and training is the leading factor, according to Pangea Talent Solutions.
The Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC)’s latest report on the ever-expanding offshore wind sector also calls for 70,000 additional jobs in this space alone between now and 2030.
“The offshore wind sector needs many more people in the short, medium and long-term to power ahead,” Richard Sandford, Co-Chair of OWIC says. “All of us need to work even closer together to develop a bold new strategy that attracts all the skills we need to surge ahead as fast as possible.”
As much as the rapid technological advancements the energy space benefits prove positive, a lack of specialised knowledge thanks to retiring employees not being replaced by equally-qualified younger counterparts means technology is not being leveraged to its full potential.
Attracting new, younger talent has also been a struggle.
Despite renewable energy, for example, being highlighted as an exciting industry to work in and create meaningful change, perceived industry instability and a lack of awareness on career opportunities has hindered progress here.
Another issue that arises here is the gender balance in energy.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) says that although making up 39% of the global labour force, women only account for 16% of the traditional energy sector’s manpower.
This is despite efforts to shoehorn people into green industries, with energy providers like E.ON working to tackle this issue head-on.
“The green ceiling must be tackled if we’re to meet net zero and combat the climate crisis,” Helen Bradbury, Chief People Officer at E.ON UK told Energy Digital in June.
“Democratising access to green skills training — whether entry level, middle management or through our Senior Leadership programmes — is critical to taking the necessary steps to tackling the growing green skills gap,”
Is upskilling the answer?
The skills gap poses problems across all industries, and energy, utilities , oil and gas are no different.
Upskilling and training opportunities each enrich the transition to net zero, as has been highlighted in numerous studies.
Plugging the gap between the increasing quantity of green jobs available and the growing skills gap preventing said posts from being filled.
Climate action charity Carbon Copy’s Chief Storyteller Isabelle Sparrow said: “We know that many of the solutions to the dangerous global heating we are experiencing right now already exist. The key issue is making sure people have the right expertise to carry out the work.
“The green jobs skills gap will only be filled when more companies, local authorities and educational institutions work together to develop high quality training programmes, like those in the examples above. There is no need to reinvent the wheel.”
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