Australian Institute of Energy National Conference (November 2006)

www.nousgroup.com.au The Nous Group | Page 1

Meeting the challenge of future skill shortages in the energy
sector
Power engineering, pipeline engineering and other specialised skills in the energy sector are
increasingly difficult to obtain from the employment market. Electricity, gas and water supply
occupations have fallen dramatically from 2.3% in 1986 to 0.7% in 2001 of the Australian workforce.
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This fall is primarily due to the deregulation of utilities and the increase in service based industries. Key
factors which are leading to the impending skills shortage include:
The high average age of professional energy-based engineers compared with the average
Australian worker
Many previously prominent skill development centres (i.e. large state owned monopolies and large
university power engineering schools) no longer exist to meet industry growth
In the competitive industry environment, experienced engineers appear to have insufficient time to
mentor recent graduates or recruits to power engineering
Whilst the industry seems to expect its power engineers to have more specialised training,
universities are increasingly providing more general engineering degrees.
Future access to specialist engineering skills is considered to be a major challenge for the energy
sector. This is particularly the case for electrical power engineering where there are few other industries
that use the same skills and there is a requirement for in-depth understanding of local standards and
legacy assets.
Skills shortages could pose a risk to future project timings as well as to the quality of design and
construction in the works. In an era of just in time investment, such risks can even translate into direct
market impacts through plant failures.

Tim Orton proposes to discuss the issues associated with the impending skills shortage, to provide
examples of how other industries in similar positions have dealt with this issue and to provide potential
options for the energy sector to consider.

Tim Orton is Managing Director of The Nous Group. Tims work combines a keen strategic brain,
extensive knowledge about the effective interaction of people and information, and effective leadership
skills. He has consulted in the energy sector in the development of strategy, organisational change, and
executive development.


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