The demand for renewable energy talent has skyrocketed over the past few years, as countries work to reach Net Zero by 2050. Statistics indicate that to remain on track to reach this target, an additional 38.2m renewable energy jobs will need to be created globally by 2030.

Whilst this projected expansion in job creation and demand for specialists is a fantastic indication of future growth within the energy sector, the industry as a whole is facing a huge challenge. The UK’s renewable energy sector is currently experiencing a talent gap of over 200,000 workers, which will likely increase significantly in the coming years. For businesses already struggling to attract renewable energy talent, I have created this guide for how to effectively engage great candidates now and in the future.

Promote purpose and values

If your business is part of the renewable energy sector, showcasing your values and commitment to sustainability should be a key part of your strategy for attracting great talent.

Renewable energy professionals are often motivated to work in the sector due to their strong values and sense of purpose. Therefore, many look for organisations that have a strong commitment to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) and are taking active steps to positively impacting the environment and creating sustainable change.

In order to engage the best talent, you should highlight your ESG roadmap. By ensuring you signpost your sustainability efforts, as well as showcase transparency over your green goals, you will appeal to many professionals who have these specific motivations.

Latest statistics indicate how conscious candidates across all sectors are of sustainability, with 50% of candidates reporting that they were sceptical of prospective organisations greenwashing their practices.

Your sustainability and green goals should be thoroughly communicated through your online presence, internally amongst your workforce and to candidates, in order to hire and retain the best renewable energy talent.

Review your Employee Value Proposition

An EVP (Employee Value Proposition) is a combination of what you can offer your employee. This includes benefits, compensation, training, culture, career development and more. With 75% of renewable energy businesses struggling to hire talent, an attractive EVP will set your business apart from the crowd, helping you to engage great professionals. On average, an effective EVP can help to increase new hire commitment by 30%.

Periodically reviewing your EVP package and benchmarking it against your competitors to see if it meets the mark can help your business to attract the renewable energy talent you need. As renewable energy businesses, particularly in wind farming, sometimes require workers to attend sites across the UK in remote/ offshore locations, they have to consistently review their EVP to make sure it is competitive enough to entice workers to relocate or travel to various sites.

Offer training

With new advancements and technologies being implemented all the time in the sector, providing training opportunities is a key way for you to attract renewable energy talent. Enhanced training will ensure your workers stay up to date on the latest developments. Training has multiple benefits including the potential for upskilling which could fill skills gaps, and individual professional growth which could support your retention.

The renewable energy sector is quite young. Many jobs, such as Solar Farm Managers, or Sustainability Managers, did not exist 15 years ago. Therefore, many professionals may feel like they are treading an unknown path in terms of career progression and training. By signposting your organisation’s commitment to personal development, guidance and support, you will engage the best talent.

Supporting early career specialists

For many roles in the renewable energy sector, there are long periods of training and a lot of certifications to obtain, especially for niche specialisms. By offering support, mentorship and on-the-job training, your organisation could quickly appear more attractive to early career renewable energy talent.

Additionally, offering apprenticeships and work experience for those in formal education can create a pipeline for those in education to join your workforce once they’ve qualified.

Supporting early career specialists as they train will not only help your talent acquisition goals, but also ensure that early career specialists are not discouraged from continuing in the sector and leave.

Consider remote working where possible

A key pain point for renewable energy professionals is travelling or relocating to renewable energy sites. Many renewable energy sites are offshore or in remote locations which it can make it challenging for employees’ work-life balance. These remote locations may have limited housing options for workers that need to relocate, as well as poor transportation links to major cities for those travelling to and from work.

Whilst some jobs do need consistent onsite presence, finding ways to support remote working will increase your chances to attract renewable energy talent.

Implement fair recruitment processes

Addressing and reducing obstacles to hire is an important way to attract renewable energy talent.

Whilst gender imbalances in the wider energy sector are stereotypically more present in traditional energy organisations, the renewable energy sector is not significantly better. Currently, women only make up 32% of the renewable energy workforce. Additionally, ethnic minorities only represent 4.8% of the green energy workforce, half of the representative amount of the UK.

Renewable energy businesses will need to attract and retain diverse renewable energy talent in order to address both the acute skills gap many are facing right now, as well as support the high future demand for professionals.

Unconscious bias is a major contributing factor of women and ethnic minorities not entering or remaining in the renewable energy workforce. By working with a recruitment specialist agency that has a proven track record in DEI-focused recruitment can help support you to improve your processes and remove barriers to hire.

Use a specialist agency

A renewable energy specialist recruitment agency can help to support your talent acquisition goals in a number of ways.

Specialist agencies are fully immersed in their sectors; therefore, they will have access to niche candidate pools to source from. Renewable energy recruitment agencies will know where the best talent is and how to approach them.

Renewable energy recruitment agencies also understand how to attract renewable energy talent because they speak with them day in, day out. They know their pain points and what they want from their next company. They also have greater insights into your competitors, so will be able to undertake market mapping to benchmark salaries and benefits. All of this information will help you improve your offerings so that you can effectively attract renewable energy talent and retain them.

Consult Energy is a renewable energy specialist recruitment agency. If you are struggling to attract renewable energy talent and would like bespoke support, get in touch with our team today.