The International Energy Agency’s (IEAs) third World Energy Employment (WEE) 2024 report has found that energy jobs per capita are the highest in Australia and New Zealand, despite its smaller energy workforce overall.
Focussed on the 2023 period, critical minerals mining employment grew in Australia by 7% despite uncertain pricing outlooks, which saw an increase in Australia’s lithium extraction workforce increase 6%, primarily as a result of exploration spending.
Digital skills are increasing in demand in the energy sector worldwide, and the IEA’s analysis found that the share of online job postings requiring at least one specialised digital skill in the solar sector increased in Australia 7% in 2012 to 13% in 2023, roughly on par with the United Kingdom, but well behind Canada, where advertisements rose from 19% in 2012 to 53% in 2023.
Image: International Energy Agency
Wage increases in renewables outpaced those of fossil fuel sectors in most global regions in 2023, but real wages in Australia between 2022 and 2023 were showed little growth, compared to Poland and Kazakhstan, which respectively saw 9% and 7% wage growth in solar sector salaries.
Image: International Energy Agency
Skill shortages remain an issue for Australia, and most developed economies were found to have shortages in skilled trades such as welders, mechanics and electricians.
Globally, 2.5 million jobs were added to the energy sector in 2023, including in fossil fuels, indicating a rise of 3.8% and outpaced the economy-wide average of 3.3%, bringing total employment to over 67 million workers.
The solar sector employs more than 4.5 million workers, which is a 13% increase year-on-year, led by record $480 billion (USD 310.5 billion) investment spend globally.
Jobs are concentrated in the installation of new capacity, with manufacturing and construction accounting for two-thirds of total solar jobs.
Around 70% of solar jobs are associated with distributed solar (rooftop and other small-scale installations), totalling over 3.1 million jobs, and a 13% increase from 2022 levels.
Image: International Energy Agency
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