Victorian Energy Workforce Projections

The study includes projections for the electricity sector (generation and storage, transmission line construction), an estimate of the overall energy efficiency and electrification workforce, and detailed case studies of residential electrification, the installation of electric vehicle charging, and hydrogen refuelling infrastructure.

All projections use an employment factor approach, in which an indicator of total job numbers per unit of something (generation capacity, appliance or EV charger installation, or thousand tonnes of hydrogen for example) is used alongside a scenario projection for the relevant element. 

Employment factors for overall energy efficiency and electrification and for hydrogen refuelling infrastructure were developed in this project using a wage estimation method; this does not include developing occupational shares, and employment factors for residential appliance electrification and EV charging infrastructure were developed from industry surveys undertaken for the project. In all areas with surveys and desktop research was supplemented by expert interviews. 

Total projected employment requirements in modelled energy sectors increase from 25,700 in 2024 to 49,200 in 2040 in the Low scenario and 51,700 in the High scenario (Figure E2)1. The modelled sectors are the electricity sector (generation and storage, transmission line construction), installation and operation and maintenance of the EV charging infrastructure and refuelling stations for hydrogen vehicles2, energy efficiency and electrification, and residential space conditioning, cooking, and water heating3. Average employment is 35,400 in the Low and 41,900 in the High scenario.

There is sustained growth in energy sector employment projected across the period to 2040, with the potential for considerable volatility in the decade to 2030. This growth is occurring in the context of tight labour markets where unemployment is very low, and skill shortages persist in many of the key energy sector occupations.