Strong investment in energy infrastructure drove a 2.2 per cent rise in energy jobs last year, nearly double the rate of employment growth for the wider global economy, according to a new International Energy Agency (IEA) report, which highlights the dynamic trends across the sector as well as bottlenecks for skilled labour in key areas.

The World Energy Employment 2025 report released finds that global energy sector employment reached 76 million people worldwide in 2024, up more than 5 million from 2019.

The sector has contributed 2.4 per cent of all net jobs created across the global economy over the past five years.

The power sector is leading the way on job creation, accounting for three-quarters of recent employment growth, and is now the largest employer in energy, overtaking fuel supply.

Solar PV is a key driver of growth, complemented by rapid expansions in hiring in nuclear power, grids and storage.

Increasing electrification of other sectors of the economy is also reshaping employment trends, with jobs in EV manufacturing and batteries surging by nearly 800 000 in 2024.

Fossil fuel employment remained resilient in 2024.

Coal jobs rebounded in India, China and Indonesia, pushing employment in the coal industry 8 per cent above its 2019 levels despite steep declines in advanced economies.

The oil and gas industry has also regained most of the jobs lost in 2020, although low prices and economic uncertainties have triggered job cuts in 2025.

Based on early data, energy employment growth is expected to moderate to 1.3 per cent in 2025, reflecting persistently tight labour markets and heightened trade and geopolitical tensions that are making some firms more cautious about hiring.

Despite the strong recent performance of the overall energy sector, the report warns of deepening skilled labour shortages.

Out of 700 energy-related companies, unions and training institutions participating in the IEA’s Energy Employment Survey, more than half of them reported critical hiring bottlenecks that threaten to slow the building of energy infrastructure, delay projects and raise system costs.

“Energy has been one of the strongest and most consistent engines of job creation in the global economy during a period marked by significant uncertainties,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “But this momentum cannot be taken for granted. The world’s ability to build the energy infrastructure it needs depends on having enough skilled workers in place. Governments, industry and training institutions must come together to close the labour and skills gap. Left unaddressed, these shortages could slow progress, raise costs and weaken energy security.”

Applied technical roles such as electricians, pipefitters, line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers are in especially short supply.

These occupations alone have added 2.5 million positions since 2019 and now represent over half of the entire global energy workforce, more than double their share of total employment in the broader economy.

An ageing workforce is intensifying the pressure, with 2.4 energy workers in advanced economies nearing retirement for every new entrant under 25.

Nuclear- and grid-related professions face some of the steepest demographic challenges, with retirements outnumbering new entrants by ratios of 1.7 and 1.4 to 1 respectively.

At the same time, the supply of newly qualified workers is not keeping pace with the sector’s needs. To prevent the skills gap from widening further by 2030, the number of new qualified entrants into the energy sector globally would need to rise by 40 per cent.

The report shows that this would require an additional $2.6 billion per year of investment globally, representing less than 0.1 per cent of spending on education worldwide.

Policy measures can make a major difference.

According to the IEA’s Energy Employment Survey, the main barriers preventing people from entering energy-related training include costs, foregone wages and limited awareness of available programmes.

Effective policy tools include targeted financial incentives for learners, expanded apprenticeships, greater private-sector involvement in curriculum design, and investment in training facilities.

Reskilling within the energy sector itself is also essential.

Some regions already face declines in fossil fuel employment, but targeted retraining could help workers transfer into other parts of the energy system that are growing. -OGN/TradeArabia News Service