Recruitment in the energy transition: why talent is increasingly the real bottleneck

Recruitment in the energy transition has long since ceased to be a support process for many organisations. As investments in renewable energy, infrastructure and electrification continue, the pressure on employers to find the right people is growing. The energy transition requires not only technology and capital, but also sufficient talent to actually implement plans.

This is no longer a detail. UWV writes in Region in Focus 2025-2026 that the energy transition could stagnate due to lack of personnel. That pressure is mainly in sectors that are directly or indirectly needed to make the transition possible, such as engineering, ICT and construction & installation.

The labour market is slightly less tight, but not where it really hurts

At the macro level, the labour market is less extremely tight than a few years ago. CBS reported for the first quarter of 2025 that there were 101 vacancies for every 100 unemployed. But that overall picture says little about the positions on which the energy transition is actually running. In the same quarter, construction held the highest vacancy rate of any industry, with 81 vacancies per 1,000 jobs.

UWV sees the same in employer data. In February 2026, UWV reported that 58% of employers are still experiencing labour market tightness. On average, 45% of vacancies are hard to fill according to employers, but in construction this rises to 71%. Tightness also remains high in manufacturing, with occupations such as machine, service and electricians among the positions with the most recruitment problems.

This makes the crux of the problem clear: the energy transition is not competing for “general staff”, but for people with technical, project-based and digital skills that are also desperately needed in other scarcity sectors.

Why recruitment in the energy transition is extra tough

The challenge is not only in numbers. It is mainly in the kind of profiles organisations are looking for.

Indeed, many roles in the energy transition lie at the intersection of multiple domains. Organisations are not looking for standard profiles, but people who understand technology, can oversee projects, bring stakeholders along and can work in an environment where regulation, operations and innovation are intertwined. This automatically narrows the pond.

At the same time, many employers are fishing in exactly the same market. Network operators, installation companies, energy companies, industrial parties, technology companies and consulting organisations often seek candidates with overlapping skills. This increases competition for the same talent, even if job titles differ.

Traditional recruitment works less and less well here

Especially in this market, traditional vacancy approaches get bogged down faster. A long wish list, a narrow job definition and a slow process reduce the chances of success. UWV sees that employers are therefore increasingly making other choices: almost a third are trying to reach other target groups, such as lateral entrants, and half are opting more often for training new staff because of the shortage.

This is an important signal. In a market where there are not enough people available who have done exactly the same thing before, recruitment automatically becomes less a search for the perfect match on paper and more a demand for potential, learning capacity and transferable experience.

What does work

Employers who outperform in this market tend to look at recruitment differently.

They start earlier. Not just when a vacancy arises, but the moment growth, project pressure or transformation becomes apparent. Recruitment then becomes part of workforce planning rather than a response to an open seat.

They look more broadly. Not just candidates who are already literally from the same niche, but also people from adjacent sectors or with partly overlapping experience.

They are also clearer in their positioning. In scarce markets, candidates do not choose on salary or job title alone. They want to know what issue they are working on, what stage the organisation is in, how much influence the role really has and what decision-making, collaboration and growth look like. Especially in the energy transition, where social relevance often plays a role, that context is important.

And finally: they are faster. In this market, a good recruitment process is not an operational detail, but a competitive advantage. Those who take too long to coordinate internally, provide feedback too late or show too little focus in interviews lose candidates to organisations that act faster and more clearly.

Recruitment is increasingly becoming an organisational issue here

With that, recruitment in the energy transition is shifting from execution to strategy. It is no longer just about sourcing or job ads, but about questions such as:

• What skills do we really need;
• what experience is necessary and what is teachable;
• Where can we widen;
• how quickly we can decide;
• and how credible is our story towards candidates?

This is also in line with government policy. In the progress report of the Green and Digital Jobs Action Plan, the government emphasises the need to invest in knowledge, skills and innovation for green and digital jobs. The underlying message is clear: the transition requires not only projects and technology, but also structural human capital building.

The core

The energy transition is running up against not only technical limits, but also personnel limits. And this is precisely why recruitment is no longer a supportive process in this market. It is a prerequisite for growth, realisation and acceleration.

Organisations that recognise this in time are not just looking at filling vacancies. They build an approach that brings together workforce planning, skills, positioning and speed. This is precisely where the difference is made.

Is your recruitment approach still working for today's energy transition?

Many organisations are finding that traditional recruitment is no longer sufficient for technical and strategic roles in the energy transition. Flexxy helps employers design recruitment in this market more sharply, realistically and effectively - from positioning and job profiles to search, process and talent strategy.

Want to spar about how your organisation can recruit better in a scarce market? Contact Flexxy for an exploratory discussion.