09.12.2024 – The study conducted by Prognos AG on behalf of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DIHK) shows that the energy transition requires more than new technologies and innovations – specifically, well-qualified personnel could become a crucial bottleneck.

© DIHK / Werner Schuering

"Many companies assume that the transformation will take longer due to the shortage of skilled workers and that the expansion targets for renewable energies can only be partially achieved," reports DIHK Deputy Managing Director Achim Dercks from the results of the study.

At the same time, he warns against focusing recruitment strategies solely on the key sectors and thus on qualification profiles commonly referred to as climate or transformation professions. The expansion of renewable energies is dependent on many intermediate steps in different economic areas. Consequently, shortages of skilled workers not only in the core business of the energy industry could lead to delays, but also in many other "non-green" sectors and professions.

Driver shortages could hinder wind energy development

"It is crucial that we always consider the entire value chain when determining the need for skilled workers," Dercks explains. "For example, shortages in logistics and transportation or planning and administration could jeopardise the economic transformation as a whole. Specifically, this means: The construction of wind turbines could be delayed because truck drivers are lacking."

Looking at the three value chains examined in the study – solar, wind and hydrogen – reveals that around 250 professions, from dual-trained commercial clerks to industrial supervisors and engineers, are essential to shaping the climate and transformation transition. "Defossilisation requires qualified personnel," emphasises DIHK Deputy Managing Director. "Vocational education plays a key role in this, as around two-thirds of the relevant skilled workers will need vocational qualifications."

Key factor: securing skilled workers across industries

Another finding of the study underscores the necessity of leveraging this area: In 250 professions relevant to the transformation, there will be a cross-industry shortage of about 560,000 employees by 2035. "The competition for bright minds will intensify and thus pose an additional risk to the successful energy transition," Dercks warns.

The study highlights that securing skilled workers across industries is an often underestimated key factor for defossilisation and the transformation processes necessary for it. "If we don't manage to address the shortage of skilled workers across the relevant value chains, then the expansion targets in renewable energies will remain more an unrealistic vision than a feasible future scenario," summarises Dercks.

In the medium term, this would also jeopardise the innovation and competitiveness as well as the local attractiveness of the German economy overall. "The good news is: With a diverse and innovative range of vocational education offers, we have an effective toolkit to counteract the skilled worker shortage along the relevant value chains."

The detailed results of the DIHK-Prognos study are available for download here:

"Defossilisation and climate neutrality – The need for and recruitment of skilled workers in transformation" (PDF, 5 MB) (only available in German)
 

Recruiting skilled workers for transformation – What needs to be done

According to DIHK, the following measures could help secure the personnel required to meet climate targets: 

• Career guidance: Even at schools, the right course needs to be set. Early, comprehensive and practical career guidance is crucial. Children, young people and their parents should be familiarised with the wide range of career fields relevant to the transformation. To date, efforts to inspire young people to pursue appropriate training have focused on a limited number of environmental technical professions or jobs in the plumbing, heating and climate sectors. However, showing that office management or logistics professionals also make an essential contribution to climate neutrality could reach a broader target audience and unlock greater potential.
• Vocational training: Focusing solely on supposedly green jobs for transformation-related workforce recruitment is too narrow, even in dual vocational education. Sustainability and sustainable practices must be incorporated into all training programmes – young people should learn how their professional actions contribute to the transformation. This ability is increasingly an integral part of vocational competence. Successfully motivating more young people to pursue vocational education in this way would provide businesses with the professionally qualified workforce urgently needed for the transformation.
• Partial qualifications: Becoming professionally equipped for the transformation and possibly obtaining professional certification step by step are options offered by partial qualifications. These modular measures are based on recognised training careers and are a genuine opportunity, especially for the low-qualified. Partial qualifications could help unlock employment potentials, particularly among previously less-considered population groups, for the transformation.
• Additional qualifications: In vocational education, interdisciplinary additional qualifications acquired as tailored complements to dual vocational training are also beneficial. A broad range of offerings exists for selected professions central to the value chains of wind, photovoltaics and hydrogen. One such new qualification developed in collaboration with businesses is the hydrogen additional qualification by the IHK organisation.
• Advanced vocational training: The proven qualifications of advanced vocational education, such as industrial supervisors or technical specialists, are indispensable for achieving climate goals. They provide extensive competencies, offering broad application potential for graduates along key value chains. Strengthening advanced vocational education and its practical, valuable certifications is hence essential. It would also be beneficial if the improvements made to the advancement BAföG were passed.
• IHK certification courses: Vocational training has even more to offer: Nationally unified IHK certification courses are a proven instrument for addressing short-term and specific business qualification needs. Offerings like "Specialist for hydrogen applications (IHK)" or "Corporate climate manager (IHK)" help employees competently shape company transformation processes.
• Skilled workers from abroad: Given demographic change, tapping into additional resources is essential. Recruiting skilled workers from abroad plays an important role here. For immigration from third countries, streamlined, speedy and low bureaucracy administrative procedures are crucial. The new Skilled Immigration Act provides good approaches but must now prove effective in practice.
• Compatibility: Additionally, the potentials offered by greater employment opportunities for women and older employees need to be harnessed more effectively for the transformation. For women, achieving family-work balance is particularly relevant, emphasising the expansion of flexible and high-quality childcare offerings.
• Lifelong working time: To maximise employment of older individuals, early retirement incentives, such as long-term insurance pensions, should be systematically phased out. Moreover, straightforward continued employment of retirees via options like fixed-term contracts should be encouraged. Linking the general retirement age to life expectancy development would also be a sensible step.