Labor market: In energy transition professions, more and more experts are missing

The skilled worker in Germany decreased last year. In some professions that are particularly important for the energy transition, however, more and more qualified specialist staff are missing. This is shown by an investigation by the competence center skilled workers’ security (Kofa) of the employer -related institute of the German economy (IW).

“The lack of qualified specialists is an obstacle to the successful energy transition in Germany,” says study author Jurek Tiedemann. The number of vacancies is referred to as skilled workers, for which there are no appropriately qualified unemployed.

The biggest bottlenecks are therefore available in the construction electrical system. More than 18,300 vacancies could not be filled in 2024, 2.9 percent more than 2023. Building electrics are needed, among other things, to install solar systems and wind turbines. “They are considered a bottle neck for the energy transition,” said Tiedemann.

Specialists for electrical company technology urgently wanted

Many areas also remained vacant in other energy transition professions. A good 14,200 specialists were missing in electrical operating technology, ten percent more than 2023. In this area, among other things, the charging infrastructure for electric cars are built and serviced.

More than 8,500 vacancies for electrical engineering engineers could also not be occupied. For example, they plan the integration of renewable energy sources into the power grid.

With the specialists for welding and connecting technology, the gap was 4,370 places, the increase here was even 20 percent. These specialists are primarily required for the expansion of wind turbines.

Eon hires more than 2,000 new employees in Germany

The Eon energy giant is also trying to get enough specialists in Germany – especially to expand its network business. As an energy supplier, Eon not only has most of the electricity customers in Germany, around twelve million. As the largest electricity distribution network operator, the group also includes almost a third of this network, to which almost all wind turbines, solar systems, charging stations and heat pumps have to be connected.

“In the last financial year alone, we hired around 4,000 new employees, of which over half of them in Germany,” reports a spokeswoman. The majority of this employee structure took place in the network business. At the end of 2024, the group employed around 77,000 people worldwide, including around 41,000 in Germany.

Technological change in the energy industry concerns specific know-how in areas such as network expansion, energy storage and energy efficiency, emphasizes the company spokeswoman. “This specialist knowledge is often not available to a sufficient extent on the job market.” Therefore, one is increasingly relying on your own training and qualification of specialists. Specialists are mainly sought in the areas of IT, energy technology and infrastructure.

Eon also wants to remain attractive for employees in positions without a home office option. In addition to attractive working time models, there is a strong company pension scheme, numerous additional services as well as targeted training and development opportunities, the company advertises.

RWE does not feel a shortage of skilled workers

A large energy transition player is also the energy group RWE, which relies on electricity generation from renewable energies, energy trade and energy storage. The company is answering the question of a possible shortage of skilled workers: RWE offers exciting and diverse career opportunities and is therefore a very attractive employer. “That is why we do not feel the shortage of skilled workers to the extent that some other companies report,” says a spokesman on the DPA request. As part of the international growth in 2024, more than 2,000 employees were discontinued. “We will also fill many vacancies in 2025.”

Other industries are also severely affected – overall decline

Specialists in other industries are also missing throughout Germany. The areas of health, health and elderly care as well as childcare and education are still particularly affected. In total, an average of around 487,029 positions could not be filled in 2024. That was 14.6 percent less than in the previous year.

Expert Tiedemann emphasizes in order to tackle the shortage of skilled workers, it makes sense to promote more international specialists and to qualify for people and unskilled people.