<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/unfilled-vacancies-and-skills-shortages-the-vicious-circle-threatening-the-energy-supercycle/>
"Does Australia have enough workers to build the enormous infrastructure
ambitions of the renewable energy and data centre booms? A new piece of
research says that, right now, it does not. And the problem traces all the way
back to the training level.
The government-backed Powering Skills Organisation (PSO) has added another data
point to an already-worrisome picture, one that suggests there aren’t enough
people today with the skills, or inclination, to work on the nation’s big
energy infrastructure.
Half of employers in the energy industry cannot fill vacancies and two-thirds
say there are skills shortages, according to the PSO report.
“PSO previously estimated [in 2025] that an additional 42,000 energy trades
workers would be required by 2030.”
This report however says that number is already out of date, and PSO is doing
more work now to figure out what it might be in 2026.
“Meeting this demand would require around 22,000 additional apprentices in
training, an increase of approximately 40 per cent above apprenticeship figures
reported in 2026,” the report says.
But there is also a chance the industry is its own worst enemy, as only a
quarter of businesses surveyed say they employ apprentices, a problem for
electricians in particular given 90 per cent of electricians get trained on the
job."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
