Strong investment in power systems and clean-energy technologies pushed global energy employment to new highs last year, but widening labour shortages now threaten the sector’s momentum, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday in a new assessment of workforce trends.
The World Energy Employment 2025 report shows that jobs in the energy sector grew 2.2% in 2024—nearly double the rate of global employment growth. Total energy employment reached 76 million people worldwide, an increase of more than five million compared with 2019. Over the past five years, the sector has accounted for 2.4% of all net new jobs created across the global economy.
The sharp gains were fuelled largely by construction of new energy infrastructure and a rapid build-out of clean-technology supply chains. The power sector alone generated three-quarters of the recent job growth and has now surpassed fuel supply as the industry’s largest employer. Solar PV led the expansion, while nuclear power, grid networks and energy storage each posted strong hiring.
Electrification trends are also reshaping workforce needs. As sales of electric vehicles accelerate worldwide, jobs in EV and battery manufacturing surged by nearly 800,000 in 2024, the report found.
Meanwhile, fossil fuel employment proved more resilient than expected. Coal jobs rebounded in India, China and Indonesia, pushing global coal employment 8% above 2019 levels despite steep declines in advanced economies. Oil and gas companies have restored most of the jobs lost during the 2020 demand crash, though low prices and economic uncertainties have triggered new job cuts in 2025.
Still, the IEA cautioned that early data points to a moderation in hiring this year, with growth expected to slow to 1.3%. Tight labour markets, rising geopolitical risks and more cautious business sentiment are weighing on recruitment plans.
The biggest drag on the sector’s future prospects, however, is an escalating shortage of skilled workers. Among 700 companies, labour unions and training institutions surveyed by the agency, more than half reported “critical hiring bottlenecks” in occupations essential for building and operating energy infrastructure.
“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—including electricians, pipefitters, line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers—are in particularly short supply. These positions have added 2.5 million jobs since 2019 and now account for more than half of the world’s energy workforce, compared with less than a quarter of employment in the broader economy.
Demographic pressures are compounding the strain. In advanced economies, 2.4 energy workers are nearing retirement for every new entrant under age 25. Nuclear and grid-related roles face some of the sharpest challenges, with retirements outpacing new entrants by ratios of 1.7 to 1 and 1.4 to 1 respectively.
At the same time, the flow of newly trained workers is failing to meet demand. To prevent the skills gap from widening through 2030, the report estimates the sector will require a 40% increase in qualified new entrants globally. Achieving that would require an additional US$2.6 billion per year in training investment—less than 0.1% of worldwide education spending.
The IEA notes that targeted policies and education measures could help ease the pressure. Survey participants identified high training costs, lost wages and limited awareness of available programmes as the main barriers to entry. Effective solutions include expanding apprenticeships, providing financial incentives for learners, improving industry participation in curriculum development and investing in modern training facilities.
Reskilling will also play a critical role as workforce needs evolve. Although fossil fuel employment remains stable for now, some regions are beginning to experience declines, and retraining could help workers transition into fast-growing areas such as renewables, nuclear energy and grid modernization.
The agency said addressing the labour crunch is essential to maintaining global energy security and meeting long-term climate and infrastructure goals. Without a sufficient supply of skilled workers, project timelines and system costs will face mounting pressures—potentially slowing the energy transition at a moment when momentum has been strong but remains fragile.
