Engineers naturally play a vital role in keeping the country running across almost every major industry, however, their importance in the wider transition to net zero carbon is often overlooked. These professionals are becoming increasingly hard to come by as a result of growing skills shortages which show little sign of abating, but why could the dearth of electrical engineers in renewable industries have such a major detrimental impact on the sustainability agenda?

Growth of the green agenda

The plans for the UK’s transition to net zero are bold and ambitious, albeit they have been negatively impacted by the current government’s decision to drop some of the targets. This shift has the potential to be the biggest economic transition since the Industrial Revolution. It promises to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in areas like cable installation, the construction of electric car battery factories, and the introduction of thousands of heat pumps, as well as the development of solar and wind farms.

Ed Miliband, the shadow energy secretary has labelled the move as ‘a once in a lifetime opportunity to rebuild the economy.’ Some groups think even more roles could be created by the transition to more sustainable forms of energy production. The Committee on Climate Change believes between 135,000 and 725,000 new roles could be launched by 2030, while independent think tank The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) thinks as many as 1.6 million could be created.

With these grand plans in place, we are surely all in agreement; the future of the UK looks green. However, there is a major – practical – challenge to overcome; how to source the talent needed, and where from?

Talent shortages

As most readers will know, there is a significant and ongoing shortage of engineering talent in the UK, particularly at the more qualified end of the market, that is having an impact across all remits. We won’t dive into the reasons behind the lack of skills, that’s an entire article in itself, but depending on who you speak to Brexit, the economy, and more are all to blame for the lack of new engineers entering the workforce and the qualified ones who have left the country.

There isn’t only a shortage of electrical engineers. Indeed, engineering specialists across the board, electricians, welders and other workers – all of whom will play a key role in the net zero transition – are becoming increasingly hard to source.

Worryingly, the UK will have to work harder than most other nations to meet this shortfall. IPPR research shows that the UK currently employs fewer people in renewables as a proportion of its working-age population than most other European countries.

Luke Murphy, associate director at the IPPR commented, “Unless we have the industrial strategy and necessary skills in place to take advantage of the green transition, we risk missing our net zero targets and failing to take advantage of the opportunity that lies ahead of us. The task ahead requires not only a net zero strategy but an industrial strategy alongside it.”

Electrical engineers in renewable industries

Considering that electrical engineers play one of the more vital roles in the planned growth and use of renewable energy, their shortfall should be of particular concern. As well as the pre-existing shortages, up to 19.5%, or one-fifth, of the engineering workforce is set to retire by 2026, just two years away, and there appears to be no immediate solution in sight.

To date, the majority of efforts to boost engineering recruitment have been regionally, or employer, led, however this won’t change momentum. What’s needed is a national effort to pivot skills development to plug this widening, gap in the workforce. We can’t magic these people up, and immigration legislation makes it challenging to recruit them from overseas; they need to be developed over time.

One important fix would be to channel more efforts into diversifying the sector. Significant efforts have been made to boost the number of women and other underrepresented groups in engineering, and this needs to be sustained. According to Engineering UK, the workforce is significantly less diverse than the broader population and hiring challenges are only exacerbated if firms are only hiring from a small proportion of the workforce. The tide is turning on diversity in engineering, but not quickly enough.

Despite these challenges, the green economy continues to expand, with a 9% increase in 2023 pushing the market close to £74 billion, although the labour workforce is getting closer to breaking point.

For employers, the shortage of electrical engineers able to work in renewable industries is a major concern, and they will need to strengthen their offering to secure the limited range of skills in the market.

Yes, in the longer term, we need to look for sustainable solutions that can help support the projected growth of the renewables industry. However, in the short term, businesses must find one way or another to get ahead of their competitors in the race for talent.

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