The Labor Shortage Compounds
The US isn’t the only one with an energy transition fueled labor shortage. New data suggests the UK faces one too.
The energy transition requires more skilled labor - stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
In a conversation often confined to the US, energy transition related job opportunities are coming to the UK and EU, too. A new report by Bain estimates that over 1 million jobs will be created by 2030 due to the energy transition, and another 4 million roles will need significant reskilling.
Unsurprisingly, the vehicle manufacturing industry will drive more gross and net role losses than any other sector, as low-emission vehicles require less labor to manufacture and service than their internal combustion engine counterparts.
The home heating and electrician sectors are due for a boom. Bain estimates up to 170,000 new heat pump installer roles will be required, outweighing the 60,000 installation jobs lost as gas boilers phase out.
Europe will also undergo a continent-wide AC installation movement as temperatures rise in areas where AC was a novelty due to temperate climates.
However, most of the transition will require a new set of skills. Only about a third of legacy roles will have a clear replacement in the net-zero transition. There may be overlapping skill sets between legacy and green roles, but most will require some retraining.
Rightfully, some companies remain hesitant to retrain their workforce for jobs they aren’t sure will exist in a few years. The energy transition has just started, and some new technologies might not exist in a decade. Long-term demand will solidify support for training a new workforce in most sectors.
We can bet that if the UK has a labor problem of this size, the US opportunity is at least 2- 3 times as large.
Labor shortages will continue to grow as our population ages, and people seek desk-based jobs due to economic mobility. The latter might be a mistake. The reward for supplying labor to the energy transition will be enormous.