Investment in the energy transition reached a record $2.3 trillion in 2025. But the talent needed to deliver it is proving much harder to secure. LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2026 found that demand for green talent grew almost twice as fast as supply over the past year.
For TA and HR leaders, the challenge is less about how many roles are open and more about finding professionals with the right experience. This article explores where that pressure is building and how energy employers can stay ahead of it.
The gap is in experience, not applicants
Many renewables employers have plenty of applicants but too few with the skills and track record their projects need. In Australia, Powering Skills Organisation’s 2026 workforce survey found that 52% of energy employers had positions unfilled for longer than six months. In the U.S., over half cited a lack of experience, training, or technical skills as a top reason for hiring difficulty. Management roles, from supervisors to vice presidents, were the hardest positions to fill.
Energy companies are competing for talent outside their own industry, as demand for skilled workers grows in sectors such as data centers and advanced manufacturing.
An aging workforce adds to the pressure. The International Energy Agency (IEA) reported that, for every energy worker under 25, 2.4 are nearing retirement. It also estimates that, through 2035, about two-thirds of new hires will simply replace workers who retire, leaving only a third to support workforce growth.
Widen the talent pool with transferable skills
The fastest route to qualified talent is often through adjacent industries, and workers are already moving in that direction. Across 28 countries, LinkedIn found that renewables employed a growing share of the global workforce between 2021 and 2026 in every market, while oil and gas declined in all but two.
Engineers and project managers from oil and gas and utilities may lack renewables knowledge, but they typically bring the kind of experience and judgment that’s hard to teach. Many already understand large capital projects and safety-critical work, which makes them a strong fit for renewables employers that can show a clear path into the sector.
Four practical steps can help you expand access to talent.
- Skills-based requirements. Replace criteria like “five years in solar energy” with the capabilities the role requires, such as managing grid interconnection or leading large construction programs.
- Adjacent market mapping. Identify where professionals with transferable skills are concentrated near your sites and what they currently earn.
- Internal talent first. Your own workforce may include employees ready to step into supervisory or technical roles. Investing in internal mobility, along with learning and development, can help you build your leadership pipeline from within.
- Apprenticeships. Training programs can prepare emerging talent for the technical roles you’ll need in a few years’ time.
With so many experienced professionals nearing retirement, pairing seasoned hires with newer talent can help keep critical knowledge in the business. Taking these steps can widen the pool without lowering the bar.
Give candidates confidence in your future
Industry headlines about stalled projects and shifting policy can unsettle candidates. Experienced professionals from other sectors who are considering a move into renewables are likely to ask how secure the role is before they ask about the mission. If your recruitment marketing leads only with purpose, it may leave their main question unanswered.
Three areas can help build that confidence.
- Transparency. Consider sharing what you can about your project pipeline and how the business has adapted to market changes. Show career paths that extend beyond a single project, so candidates can see where the role leads if plans shift.
- Pay. The IEA reported that wages in renewables rose 0.8% in 2025, compared with 3.7% in oil and gas. If you’re recruiting from higher-paying parts of the sector, be clear about the full package you can offer.
- Speed. Candidates with in-demand skills typically have options, and a slow or silent process gives competitors time to make an offer. Clear timelines and regular updates show candidates the reliability they can expect from your business.
Plan for change, not a single forecast
Project timelines in renewables can change fast as financing and policies shift. The World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index 2026 counted more than 2,500 combined gigawatts from projects stalled in grid connection queues worldwide.
Hiring plans built on a single forecast can leave employers overstaffed after a delay or scrambling when a project gets the green light. A more resilient approach separates the roles you’ll always need from those tied to specific projects.
For employers hiring across countries, conditions can also differ by region. In 2025, energy transition investment rose 18% in the EU but just 3.5% in the U.S., according to BloombergNEF. A single global recruitment strategy is unlikely to fit every market you operate in.
Build your core leadership and engineering team with a long-term view. For project-based hiring, plan two or three scenarios with clear triggers for when to ramp up or pause. Keep talent pipelines warm between projects, so you can move quickly without starting each search from scratch.
Location data should inform these plans too. Knowing where qualified talent lives, and what it costs, can shape site decisions before commitments are made. Employers that plan this way are better placed to hire when opportunities arise, rather than after competitors have already acted.
How PeopleScout can help
PeopleScout partners with energy-sector employers to meet each of these challenges head-on.
- Hard-to-fill senior roles. PeopleScout Apex delivers targeted search for senior leadership and specialist positions.
- Adjacent talent pools. Our recruiters look beyond renewables to find candidates with transferable skills. PeopleScout’s Talent Mapping solution analyzes talent location, skills availability, and salary benchmarks in your markets.
- Candidate experience. Affinix® puts candidates in the driver’s seat, so they can move through the process in a few taps or clicks. ScoutAI, a built-in AI assistant, helps candidates find a role that fits and answers their questions along the way.
- Shifting project timelines. PeopleScout RPO supports your core team, while PeopleScout Project RPO scales hiring up or down as projects move.
Ready to build a renewables hiring strategy that can flex with the market? Contact us to talk with our team.
