Strong investment in power infrastructure drove a 2.2% increase in global energy employment in 2024, but rising labour shortages now pose a risk to future project delivery, according to the International Energy Agency’s (IEA’s) ‘World Energy Employment 2025’ report, published on December 5.

The report states that energy sector jobs reached 76-million worldwide in 2024, an increase of more than five-million since 2019. Over the past five years, the sector has accounted for 2.4% of all net new jobs created globally. The power sector generated most of this growth, accounting for three-quarters of new positions and overtaking fuel supply as the largest employer in energy.

The IEA attributes this to rapid hiring in solar PV, nuclear power, electricity grids and storage, alongside increased electrification in other parts of the economy. Jobs in electric vehicle manufacturing and batteries rose by nearly 800 000 in 2024.

The report notes that fossil fuel employment remained steady overall. Coal jobs increased in India, China and Indonesia, lifting global coal employment to 8% above 2019 levels despite declines in advanced economies.

The oil and gas sector has also recovered most of the positions lost in 2020, although weak prices and economic uncertainty led to job cuts in 2025.

On the basis of early data, the IEA expects global energy employment growth to slow to 1.3% in 2025 amid tight labour markets and rising trade and geopolitical tensions.

Despite recent gains, the report highlights significant labour and skills shortages that risk slowing infrastructure development and raising system costs. Out of 700 companies, unions and training institutions surveyed for the IEA’s Energy Employment Survey, more than half reported critical hiring bottlenecks affecting project timelines.

Applied technical roles such as electricians, pipefitters, line workers, plant operators and nuclear engineers are identified as being in especially short supply. These occupations have added 2.5-million jobs since 2019 and now represent more than half of the global energy workforce.

An ageing workforce is adding to the pressure. In advanced economies, the report finds that 2.4 energy workers are nearing retirement for every new entrant under the age of 25. Nuclear and grid-related professions face the most acute demographic challenges, with retirements outnumbering new entrants by ratios of 1.7 to 1 and 1.4 to 1, respectively.

According to the IEA, the supply of newly qualified workers is not keeping pace with rising demand. To prevent the skills gap from widening by 2030, the number of new qualified entrants would need to increase by 40%, requiring an additional $2.6-billion a year of investment globally. This represents less than 0.1% of worldwide education spending.

The report identifies the main barriers preventing people from entering energy-related training as financial costs, loss of income while studying and limited awareness of available programmes. It states that targeted financial support, expanded apprenticeships, greater industry involvement in curriculum development and investment in training facilities can help attract more workers.

It also notes the importance of reskilling within the sector, particularly in regions experiencing declines in fossil fuel employment, where retraining could enable workers to shift into growing areas of the energy system.

“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. 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,” IEA executive director Fatih Birol said.