The UK’s energy sector is undergoing a significant transformation, driven by the need to decarbonise, modernise ageing grid infrastructure, and meet ambitious Net Zero targets.

Alongside these structural changes, rapid expansion of renewable energy, rising energy demand, and geopolitical conflict disrupting power supplies have all placed increasing pressure on the system.

Energy contractors can offer significant assistance in the energy sector by providing the specialist expertise and flexibility organisations need to deliver complex projects and keep up with energy demands.

What do energy contractors do?

Energy contractors are highly skilled professionals who provide services on a temporary or fixed-term basis. Contractors are usually hired to cover essential work, support the scale of operations, lead teams, upskill existing team members, or support urgent projects. Energy contractors work in all areas of the energy sector, both in renewable energy and fossil fuels.

Why are energy contractors essential to the energy industry?

Filling extensive skills gaps

The UK Government estimates that the energy sector will need to create an additional 400,000 jobs by 2030 in order to meet demand, as the sector faces significant skills gaps.

The energy sector’s skills gaps have been caused by:

• Ageing workforce – With up to 17% of energy workers likely to retire by 2030, this will create a vacuum in the sector for skills and knowledge.

• Changing priorities in the energy transition – As the sector shifts to adopting low-carbon technologies, the skills considered essential in the energy sector are changing, leaving a mismatch between existing expertise and new demands.

• Non-standardised training – As emerging areas of the energy sector grow, training and certification pathways are still developing and can be inconsistent, making it harder to recruit skilled talent.

Additionally, the energy sector skills gap is also the result of several major infrastructure projects currently underway in the UK’s energy sector, such as the Great Grid Update and the rapid expansion of renewable energy sites. This has created additional pressure on the sector due to the sudden increase in planned renewable projects and the need to connect them all to the grid. The longer the energy sector’s skills gaps persist, the less likely it is that the industry will be able to deliver on major projects that contribute to the UK’s Net Zero goals.

Energy contractors play a critical role in mitigating this issue. By bringing in experienced professionals on a flexible basis, organisations can quickly fill skills shortages and maintain momentum on key projects. Contractors are particularly valuable to organisations as they can start delivering on projects immediately with little training needed, and don’t require the same commitment as hiring a permanent employee. In addition, they can help upskill permanent staff within energy organisations to address skills gaps in the long term.

Offering flexibility in a changing sector

The UK energy sector is constantly evolving. It is facing rapid technological advances and large infrastructure projects, meaning energy businesses need expertise and flexibility in order to match demand.

Utilising contractors is an excellent way for energy organisations to have flexibility in their workforce to manage these changes. For example, large-scale infrastructure, such as offshore wind farm developments or nuclear new-build projects, often require a significant increase in agile contractor resources during peak construction phases.

Contractors can offer support in scaling up resources for a major project or provide niche expertise when required. Companies that do not invest in contractors decrease their ability to stay agile, which can increase the risk of overstaffing or redundancies when project needs change.

Hiring quickly following project delays

A major challenge in the sector is the lengthy queues for grid connection. According to the latest statistics, two thirds of projects expected to be connected to the grid by 2027 are at risk of being delayed. These interruptions in activity make it challenging for energy businesses to manage their workforce needs during their build cycles and project requirements.

When energy companies are given the go-ahead to continue a project, they need to hire immediately, which can be challenging when recruiting permanent staff. Hiring contractors can make this easier. Contractors can join an energy team within days (or even hours in some cases) of decision-makers reaching out to contractor networks.

In comparison, the time-to-hire is much longer for permanent staff. Even if the organisation requires a permanent employee in the long term, contractors can be useful to fill the role until an employee is hired.

What roles and areas of energy utilise contractors regularly?

Energy contractors are widely used across the energy sector, but there are certain areas where demand is particularly high and contractors do an excellent job at filling skills gaps.

Regulatory and compliance

The energy sector is a highly regulated industry, overseen by Ofgem and the UK Government. Laws, policies, and compliance procedures do shift regularly, and companies need to act quickly to meet new requirements. Energy companies that do not adapt to these changes can receive fines and experience reputational damage.

When new policies are implemented, contractors who are experts in regulation, compliance, and policy implementation rise in demand. These contractors can step in at short notice to guide businesses through these policy changes and advise senior leadership on how to adapt.

Engineering and construction

As the UK looks to increase its reliance on renewable energy by integrating more sites and networks into the grid, construction contractors and network engineers are becoming more vital to the sector.

Construction is naturally project-based, where workforce requirements fluctuate depending on the stage of development. Furthermore, the energy sector is undertaking countless large-scale construction projects, such as building renewable energy sites and undertaking grid updates, which often have a fixed endpoint. Therefore, contractors are a much-needed flexible workforce management resource.

SAPs and commissioning engineers

Senior Authorised Persons (SAPs) and commissioning engineers are in demand across the UK energy sector and usually work as contractors. SAPs are skilled in electrical safety and are responsible for working in high-voltage networks.

Due to a shortage of qualified SAP and commissioning engineering professionals, many choose to work on a contract basis. This allows them to maximise their earning potential by moving between projects.

Whilst they may be needed more permanently, the supply of SAPs and commissioning engineers is so much lower than demand, which has enabled professionals to set their terms, with many choosing to work on a contract basis.

Looking ahead…

Energy contractors are essential to the UK energy sector through providing specialist skills on a flexible basis, which is important to businesses that face significant skills shortages and evolving requirements. Energy contractors are also common in the sector due to the high volume of project-based work, changing regulatory demands, and strong competition for niche expertise.

As deadlines for the 2030 Clean Power and 2050 Net Zero targets approach, contractors are becoming an integral part of the energy workforce and are set to remain so for the foreseeable future.

Need to hire contractors?

With energy firms facing various pressures, many organisations are constantly reviewing how they structure their workforce.

VIQU Energy is an energy recruitment agency with significant contract recruitment expertise. Click here to talk to our team or find out more about our contract recruitment services here.