Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006, p.27. Data from Energy & Utility Skills LMI Investigations (2004), ABI (2004) and Census of Population (2001).

83% of the sector’s organisations are located in England, 9% in Scotland, 5% in Wales and 3% in Northern Ireland.

Across the electricity, gas (upstream), waste management and water industries there are around 10,000 VAT-registered businesses, the majority of which are small and medium-sized organisations.  In the gas (downstream) industry, there are approximately 50,000 CORGI-registered businesses, the vast majority of which are sole traders and very small businesses.

85% of energy and utilities business units across the UK employ less than 10 people, while less than 0.5% of organisations employ 250 or more people.  Across the electricity, gas (upstream), waste management and water industries, micro-sized businesses dominate in terms of the business stock, but employ relatively few people. The vast majority of the workforce is employed in the small number of large businesses.

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006

For data on the economic profile of the sector see:

23.8% of energy and utilities organisations had recruited under 25 year olds direct from school, college or university in 2005, which is the same proportion as the average across all sectors. 

Electricity employers are most likely to have recruited those aged under 25 (42%), compared to only 11% in the gas industry.

Skills gaps amongst young recruits include:

• Poor attitude (52.8%)
• A lack of life experience (27%).
• Inadequate social/people skills (26.1%)

For university leavers, skills gaps identified, include: written communication skills (53.7%) and common sense (20.4%).

Employers also commented on the lack of commercial awareness amongst graduates entering employment. It was felt that many university leavers have an inaccurate picture of the industry and are likely to have completed qualifications that are not relevant to their required activities in the workplace.

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006

For more information on vacancies see:

In 2005, 86.4% of organisations which were having difficulties recruiting reported a skills shortage vacancy. This is significantly up on 70.2% in 2004.  In both years skills shortage vacancies were most likely to be found among skilled trades and machine operatives.

Energy and utilities sector employers reported that the skills most commonly lacking amongst potential recruits were:

• technical
• practical
• job specific skills
• problem solving
• communication skills

In 2005, there was a high incidence of skills gaps affecting the energy and utilities sector (27.6%), compared to the England all industry average of 19.9%.

Between 2004 and 2005 the greatest reductions in skills gaps were in problem solving, general IT and office/administration. Conversely, the only skills gaps to show a rise were for IT professional, management and numeracy.   It is believed that the rise in the proportion of establishments reporting numeracy skills gaps is likely to be a reflection of the rising technological nature of many energy and utilities occupations and the perceived continuing falling standards in school leavers in this area.

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006

For information on future skills demands see:

Whilst employment for the UK as a whole is projected to grow by some 3.5% between 2004-2014, employment in the energy and utilities sector is forecast to fall by 5% over the same period. Both male and especially female employment prospects are expected to decline in the energy and utilities sector.

This rate of decline is most pronounced in the short-term until 2010; thereafter the rate of decline slows. Significant job losses in the energy and utilities female workforce seems to already have occurred in the period 2002-2006 and this downward trend is set to continue.  It is believed the decline is due to improvements in business processes which have resulted in a decline of stereotypical females roles such as administration and secretarial.

Despite the overall reduction of 5% in employment between 2004-2014 in the energy and utilities sector, the need to replace existing workers who either retire or leave the sector means there will be a need for 150,000 new recruits over the period.  Replacement demand will be greatest for skilled trades occupations, where there is a forecast need of 45,000 workers, followed by managers where 20,000 new recruits will be needed.

Source:  Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006

The energy and utilities sector is going through a period of increased investment to replace ageing assets and increase the security of the supply systems.

The key drivers of business change within the electricity industry can be summarised as: regulation; restructuring (including multi-utilities); intensified competition; increased customer service; technological developments; and reliability and security of supply.

Within the gas (upstream) sub-sector, the key drivers are: regulation; restructuring; security of supply; technological developments; and infrastructure renewal.

The gas (downstream) sub-sector operates within the context of continued CORGI/ACS accreditation, technological developments and fuel efficiency.

The key drivers of change within the waste management industry are: government policies and targets; national and regional responsibilities; health, safety and welfare practices; and new working practices through the introduction of new technologies.

While the key drivers of change within the water industry are: regulation; legal instruments; fragmentation of the supply chain; capital investment and technology; river management; flood and coastal defence; and reliability of supply.

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Executive Summary 2006

For more information on the industries in energy and utilities see: