Occupations

Information and trends on sectoral occupations.

The energy and utilities sector workforce is very similar in occupational structure to that of the whole UK workforce, with the exception of plant and machine operatives which are considerably over-represented. There are, however, substantial industry variations.

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

Occupational profile of the workforce by industry (UK), 2001

Bar-chart shows the percentage of the sector and sub-sector workforce by SOC 2000 major occupational group. Chart taken from the Energy and Utility Sector Skills Agreement (stage 1) report (2006). Data from the Census of Population (2001).

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006, p.36. Data from the Census of Population (2001).

For more occupational information by industry see:

Occupational data by industry

Occupational changes

There is relatively small occupational employment change projected for the energy and utilities sector for the period until 2014. In common with the UK workforce, the energy and utilities sector job share for managers and senior officials is expected to increase slightly, whereas the job shares for both administrative, clerical and secretarial workers and those in the elementary occupations are projected to decline.

However, whilst the energy and utilities sector is expected to show small increases for both the skilled trade occupations and transport and machine operatives, both these groups are projected to decline nationally. The other occupational groups are expected to remain stable in the energy and utilities sector.

These statistics relate to the core companies in the sector, part of this reduction relates to activities being out-sourced to third-party contractors.

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

For more information on occupational changes in the sector see:

Staff turnover

Energy and utilities forecast employee demands by occupation, 2006-2014

	Occupations within energy and utilities sector
(000s)	2006	2014	Replacement	Total need
Managers and senior officials	60	62	20	22
Professionals	36	35	11	10
Associate professionals and technicians	54	49	16	12
Skilled trades	143	142	45	44
Personal service	8	7	3	3
Sales and customer service	18	19	5	7
Transport and machine operatives	48	46	17	15
Elementary	49	38	15	4
Total	460	437	150	126

Source: Energy & Utility Skills Sector Skills Agreement Stage 1 2006, p.124. Data from Working Futures 2004-2014 based on CE and IER estimates.

Occupational replacement demand

The need to replace members of the current energy and utilities workforce who retire or leave the sector means that there will be a significant replacement demand during the period 2004-2014. Across all occupations replacement demand is forecast to total 150,000.

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. administration, clerical and secretarial roles and transport and machine operative occupations are also forecast to generate replacement demand of 18,000 and 17,000 respectively.

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

For data on predicted employment change and replacement demands see:

Employment change, replacement demand and total demand by broad occupational group, 2006-2014

Salaries

There are significant differences in the wage rates between the highest (managers) and lowest (clerical and secretarial) paid employees in the energy and utilities sector. In the sector, managers earn an average of £37,750 per annum, whereas clerical and secretarial staff earn £20,436 per annum.

Evidence provided by the Graduate Recruitment Bureau (GRB) highlights the potential significant return an individual can make in this sector from investing in their skills. According to the GRB a typical graduate starting salary within the energy and utilities sector is somewhere between £15,000 and £23,000, and upon completion of training, this can rise to between £30,000 and £48,000.

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

For data on median gross earnings for male employees in the sector by occupation see:

Median gross weekly wages for full-time men, 2003

Occupational roles and sources of information

The Energy & Utility Skills website has a dedicated careers area with occupational profiles, career progression, Apprenticeships, case studies and links to employers in the sector.