The Clean Energy Workforce Needs in Australia – 32,000 more electricians in the next seven years and close to 2 million workers in building and engineering trades by 2050

The Australian Government commissioned Jobs and Skills Australia to undertake a capacity study on the workforce needs for Australia’s transition to a clean energy economy. This study provides critical evidence and insights to support the workforce planning, policy development and program design needed to build a strong and vibrant clean energy sector. The study’s terms of reference and discussion paper are also available on the Jobs and Skills Australia website.

The final report for this study is titled The Clean Energy Generation: workforce needs for a net zero economy. The report, published on 3 October 2023, includes 50 recommendations aimed at ensuring Australia has the skills and workforce required to meet our clean energy ambitions. The report includes a holistic analysis of the existing and future needs of the clean energy workforce, training and education pathways, and opportunities to transform existing sectors through decarbonisation.

Jobs and Skills Australia thanks the many stakeholders that contributed to this report, including our project steering group with members from across industry, unions, training providers, state governments, research organisations and the Commonwealth.

Reaching the Australian Government’s net-zero emissions target by 2050 will require a workforce transformation that is substantial but not unprecedented. Like the post-war industrial transformation and the digital transformation of the late twentieth century, a new generation of workers will be required, both from existing energy sectors and through new pathways into clean energy. New jobs, skills, qualifications, training pathways, technologies and industries will emerge over the next 30 years.

Australia will need to consider the full range of levers across the education, training, migration, procurement, and workplace relations systems to ensure a sustainable and equitable path towards net zero. This report analyses the opportunities, risks and reforms that are needed for a successful transformation of our workforce, and:

• offers an Australian-first definition of the clean energy workforce, what it currently looks like and what it needs to look like to ensure the workforce grows at the pace and scale required. It finds we have enough workers overall and most likely enough university graduates but outlines the risk of a shortfall of VET qualified workers, especially amongst electricians and other trades.
• identifies both the emerging skills gaps in regional Australia as well as the opportunities for growth in the regions where new clean energy industries will emerge.
• offers opportunities for a tertiary skills, training and qualifications system that is fit-for-purpose to keep pace with rapidly changing technologies and emerging occupations, recommending innovative solutions to on-the-job skilling and all types of industry-led training, from TAFE Centres of Excellence to industry accredited microcredentials.
• tackles the barriers and challenges women, First Nations people and migrants face in participating in the sector, and the skills and talent the economy currently misses out on.
• offers a worker-centred approach to support transitioning communities, acknowledging that competition for skilled migrants is high and, while workers with clean energy skills are heavily concentrated in our regions, we have been slow to attract and support them.

Findings and opportunities

Alignment across all sectors of the economy is needed to drive long-term change.Coordination between businesses, workers and all levels of government will be needed to overcome the structural changes arising from climate change and environmental degradation. Long term policy guidance from governments can catalyse the necessary investments in our industries and regions.

Strategies need to look beyond state and territory borders, and be regularly updated to reflect both new and revised policy settings, in alignment with rapidly changing technologies. Developing this workforce should also be a national effort, with consistency and coordination the objective.

Many of the skills needed to decarbonise already exist in our economy. This means that our education and training sectors are already set up to deliver many of the skills we need. The challenge will be scaling the delivery of these skills, and developing top-up pathways for workers to bridge gaps and specialise. Innovative and agile course design approaches will help education and training sectors respond faster to emerging skills needs.

A harmonised education, training and migration system with a step change in how we train trades and technical workers is a priority. As skills needs continue to transcend VET and higher education sectors, the value and potential for greater collaboration is high. The clean energy sector is primed to be a test case for new approaches to collaboration.

A shared responsibility for inclusive pathways. We can’t grow the workforce at the pace and scale required if large groups of the population are excluded, including women, First Nations Australians, people with disability, and recent migrants whose skills’ potential are underutilised. The net zero transformation requires a shared commitment between industry, government, and communities to share the benefits of clean energy work, through foundational and pre-vocational training, clear diversity targets, and a transition framework built around the individual worker.

Australia will likely need 32,000 more electricians in the next seven years and close to 2 million workers in building and engineering trades by 2050, based on preliminary modelling. The preliminary modelling also shows a steady supply of engineers is likely but there will likely be smaller shortfalls amongst some scientists needed for the transition.

Regional Australia can benefit from the net zero transformation. The implications of the workforce transformation at the local level will be more significant in some parts of Australia, particularly those with a high proportion of employment in emissions intensive sectors. Overall economic growth and development provides good prospects for supporting these communities, provided there is local investment in new industries and impacted workers receive targeted training and other forms of support to transition into roles that build on their existing skills.
The preliminary modelling indicates there will also be new opportunities in the regions as clean energy industries emerge. For example, in Northern NSW and Eastern Victoria.

Supporting workers and communities undergoing transition. The most positive and sustainable outcomes for workers and employers are individualised ones. Local support networks play a crucial role in this as does timing, especially for workers at different stages of their career and local support. The new Net Zero Authority will have a critical role driving consistency and coordination of these supports.

A higher ambition? Australia can be a renewable energy superpower, but it will require significant effort. There is a potential path for Australia to take even fuller advantage of decarbonisation, expanding its production of renewable energy beyond what is our current domestic requirement. This would see Australia exporting renewable energy to the world, in the form of hydrogen, as well as extending further along the minerals value chain to process and refine more iron, aluminium, and critical minerals such as lithium here in Australia. Given proper planning, this transformational change could create generations of new employment opportunities for our regions.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor. Read the whole story @ The Clean Energy Generation | Jobs and Skills Australia