Training
Using fresh ideas to close the Electrical skills gap
Opinion: Kas Mohammad, vice president services at Schneider Electric UK&I. A
s the world goes electric, finding enough engineers to maintain the supporting infrastructure will be a major challenge. If we change the approach to electrical asset management, we may find the skills gap challenge easier to overcome. We are living through the electrification of industry, transport and heating – and it is only going to accelerate. However, building all these new systems and infrastructure requires electricians to maintain them. Initiatives to decarbonise industry and transport, as well as the rapid increase in new data centres – driven by the expansion of AI and cloud computing – are creating a rising demand for electric power and the infrastructure to support it. The UK will see 20% of its engineers retire by 2030 — leaving a shortfall of one million jobs. This isn’t just a problem facing us here in the UK: a report by BCG in 2023 found that one in three engineering roles in the US goes unfilled, with electrical engineering among the main contributors to this gap. Japan and Germany are among the many other countries facing shortages. And this global challenge is contributing to particular problems in rapidly growing sectors, such as data centres. In a 2023 survey by the Uptime Institute, 58% of data centre operators said they were having difficulties finding qualified candidates for jobs, with 41% experiencing shortages among electrical staff. What’s more, many experienced engineers are retiring, taking their hard-won expertise with them. The impending retirement of a fifth of the existing engineering workforce over the next five years – coupled with the struggle to fill 59,000 engineering roles a year – will create the shortfall of one million by 2030. While firms could look to competitors or further overseas to fill these gaps, we know it’s a global issue.
Balanced resourcing and process excellence
Encouragingly, though, there are some promising approaches emerging, with stakeholders are working together to tackle the skills shortage. The Netherlands, for instance, has launched a
16 | electrical wholesaler December 2025
‘Technology Attack Plan’, where government and industry will each invest half a billion euros over ten years on measures aimed to fill an expected 60,000 technical vacancies. This will involve elements such as new training structures and initiatives to attract talent, as well as introducing more effective ways of working. We will not overcome the skills challenge by working in siloes, or using conventional methods. What’s particularly interesting about the Netherlands’ plan is the awareness that the challenge is not only just about recruiting and retaining enough skilled staff, but also about making efficient use of their capacities.
We consistently see evidence of this at Schneider Electric when we visit customer sites. Typically, this is prompted by the need to address a specific problem with the power system, such as an interruption in the supply. Often, finding a solution reveals that a part of the maintenance schedule is to blame. An earlier issue was missed that led to a bigger problem, or the planned maintenance cycle allowed a fault to go undetected for too long. To help avoid such situations, we’re also having conversations with customers about how they can introduce more strategic and cost-effective ways of working, supported by our technology.
We call our vision ‘Electricity 4.0’ – where electricity and digital solutions combine to support the sustainable industries of the future.
In line with philosophy of Industry 4.0, it i all about harnessing digital innovation to reduce waste and get the most out of resources. We install internet-connected sensors on electrical components, which provide ongoing measurements for variables such as temperature and current.
Joining forces
What does this mean for the electrical engineering talent shortage? Naturally, when organisations are able to maintain their power systems more efficiently, they get more out of their resources – including their people. Instead of combating avoidable crises, their engineers are free to use their skills designing and developing the infrastructure you need – while carrying out preventative maintenance too. More than 100 Schneider Electric engineers, for instance, are working with China Unicom to operate two huge data centres as the company carries out a high- stakes expansion of its capacity with little room for error. Collaborating in this way ensures the tech is installed in the best way, and teams can learn more about real world applications. Building and managing the power infrastructure that the world needs will be a huge ask – but responding successfully is more than a numbers game. It’s about having the right information, and then using this to guide intelligent ways of working.
ewnews.co.uk
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