Global energy employment is expanding at twice the pace of the wider economy, yet mounting labour shortages are putting future growth at risk, according to a new report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
The World Energy Employment 2025 report, shows that strong investment in energy infrastructure drove a 2.2 per cent increase in energy jobs last year, almost double the global employment growth rate. The sector now employs 76 million people worldwide, an increase of more than 5 million since 2019, and has accounted for 2.4 per cent of all net new jobs created globally over the past five years.
The power sector is now the largest employer in the global energy industry, overtaking fuel supply and contributing three-quarters of recent job growth. Solar PV remains the strongest driver of expansion, supported by rapid hiring in nuclear power, electricity grids and energy storage. Electrification across the wider economy is also reshaping the labour market, with employment in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing rising by nearly 800,000 roles in 2024.
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Fossil fuel employment has also shown resilience. The oil and gas sector has regained most of the jobs lost during the 2020 downturn, although weakening prices and economic uncertainty have prompted fresh job cuts in 2025. Early indicators suggest that overall energy employment growth will ease to around 1.3 per cent this year amid tight labour markets and growing geopolitical tensions.
However, the report warns that deepening skills shortages could undermine progress. More than half of the 700 companies, unions and training organisations surveyed by the IEA reported severe hiring bottlenecks, raising concerns about delays to new infrastructure, higher project costs and risks to system reliability.
“Energy has been one of the strongest and most consistent engines of job creation during a period of significant uncertainty,” said Fatih Birol, IEA executive director . “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. Governments, industry and training institutions must work together to close the labour and skills gap.”
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Applied technical roles, including electricians, pipefitters, power-line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers, are in particularly short supply. These occupations have added 2.5 million jobs since 2019 and now account for more than half of the global energy workforce, more than twice their share of employment in the broader economy.
An ageing workforce is compounding the challenge. In advanced economies, 2.4 energy workers are nearing retirement for every entrant under the age of 25. The demographic pressures are most acute in nuclear and grid-related roles, where retirements outpace new entrants by ratios of 1.7 to 1 and 1.4 to 1 respectively.
Meanwhile, training pipelines are failing to keep up with demand. The IEA estimates that the number of newly qualified workers entering the sector must increase by 40 per cent by 2030 to prevent the skills gap from widening. Achieving this would require an additional USD 2.6 billion per year in global training investment which is less than 0.1 per cent of worldwide education spending.
The report notes that policy intervention can play a decisive role. High training costs, lost wages and low awareness remain the biggest barriers to entering energy-related fields. Effective solutions include targeted financial support, expanded apprenticeships, stronger private-sector engagement in curriculum development and increased investment in vocational training facilities. Reskilling workers already within the energy system is also vital, particularly in regions where fossil fuel employment is beginning to decline.
Targeted retraining programmes, the report suggests, could help workers transition into fast-growing areas of the energy sector, supporting both economic resilience and the global push towards cleaner, more secure energy systems.
