The European Energy Sector Is Going Full Steam Ahead

The Energy sector has been making headlines over the last few years - and not the most  favourable ones. The war between Russia and Ukraine pushed wholesale gas prices to their record high, sparking an Energy crisis that affected the whole of Europe. But there is more to the Energy sector than an inexplicably and painfully high monthly bill. 

Focussing on the good, long-term plan: the Energy industry is also closely linked to the green economy - with governments and private companies investing in renewable Energy to drive their sustainability goals. So how much have the top Energy players changed to adapt to these new challenges and opportunities?

Lightcast recently shared our European Skills Transformation Index, which looks at specific industries, its top recruiters, in-demand occupations and skills trends. In this article, we focus on the Energy sector, exploring the Energy companies with highest recruitment activity, what occupations they are looking for, and what skills they request. 

Top Energy recruiters

Of the 10 European Energy giants we looked at, ENGIE, the French multinational utility company, was by far the largest recruiter in Europe in 2022. It held a staggering 47.8% share of all job postings from these companies. E.ON Group and BP took second and third place with a significantly lower share of 15.9% and 11.6%, respectively. All the remaining 7 companies we looked at – EnBW, Eni, RWE, Shell, Total Energies, Vatenfall and Vestas – had shares of less than 10%.

Compared to what we saw when we looked at some of the biggest names in Advanced Manufacturing, which included just British, French and German companies, this list is more diversified, including firms like the Swedish state-owned Vattenfall, and Italy's oil giant, Eni.

Top occupations in the Energy sector

Business Services & Administration Managers, Engineering Professionals and Systems Analysts were the most common in-demand occupations, making it to the top 10 list of 8 out of the 10 Energy companies. Only Eni and BP weren’t advertising for Business Services & Administration Managers as much, just as EnBW and E.ON weren’t highly advertising for Engineering Professionals, and ENGIE and Vestas didn’t need Systems Analysts as much as the remaining companies. 

Advertising & Marketing Professionals was also a popular occupation, particularly in-demand at BP Group, with 4.5% of its job postings advertising for it in 2022. Some of Shell’s most in-demand occupations are not part of the realm of technology, engineering, or anything directly related to the Energy sector. 

Its most advertised occupation was actually Service Station Attendants, present in 9.9% of Shell’s job postings. This could be a reflection of the fact that Shell, though known by all as an Energy supplier, is much more than that, having its own fuel stations and hospitality areas too (something that the company may be investing in more recently). Other top occupations for this company include Authors & Related Writers and Sales & Marketing Managers. 

Top skills required in the Energy sector

To get a sense of how our data can be used to give highly granular market comparisons, we looked at the top 20 specialised skills these companies requested in their 2022 job postings for Engineering Professionals, benchmarking each firm against the average. The results are fascinating. 

For example, speaking of how green economies impact jobs - renewable energy was one of the most sought after skills for a number of firms, with 10 companies TotalEnergies requesting this skill in 45% of its job postings, RWE in 35.8%, and Vattenfall in 35%. Vestas also seemed to be following the sustainability route, with 38.7% of its job postings requesting wind turbines skills. 

The average frequency of mentions of wind turbine skills across all companies’ job postings was actually 5.3%, as most companies did not seek this skill at all. Skills such as automation and biofuels were also bottom of the list for most companies, even though biofuels was requested in a staggering 50.8% of TotalEnergies’ job postings. Overall, there are high discrepancies in the types of most in-demand skills across all the 10 companies we studied.

Looking at BP - the British multinational seemed to be particularly interested in Agile Methodology, requesting this skill in 42.1% of its job postings. Oil and Gas skills also appeared in 41.6% of its job postings - making these the two most popular skills in BP. Project Management is another key skill that a lot of these Energy companies were looking for when hiring Engineering Professionals: it was mentioned in 37.8% of Vattenfall’s postings, 35.8% of RWE’s, and 28.5% of E.ON. 

Get more European data 

If you’ve enjoyed this industry deep dive, and still have energy for more, have a look at our European Skills Transformation Index, and also check out our similar index for the labour market in the DACH region (German, Austrian, and Swiss). Furthermore, Lightcast European data can help you analyse any industry, occupation, or even skills trend in Europe. You can go as granular as you need with our Lightcast Taxonomies and regional data. 

As an educational institution, our labour market data can help you understand the most in-demand skills across industries, and adapt and market your portfolio so that your students are fully equipped to meet employer demand. 

Similarly, as a talent leader, we can help you transform your organisation’s workforce data to a new skills-driven paradigm, opening up a huge array of opportunities to radically improve your Workforce Planning, including benchmarking against competitors, understanding what skills your company should be hiring for, and where to find the best talent. 

Lastly, governmental agencies can share these insights to consult the private or public sector and support the economical development of their region. 

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about how our data can help you unlock opportunities and solve labour market challenges, get in touch with our team below.