Mass Employee Exodus Expected to Increase Pressure on Utilities
The energy industry could be facing a mass employee exodus over the next 5 years, according to a recent survey conducted by Oilandgasjobsearch.com. Although this is in-line with current research and expectations, it’s a stark reminder of the proverbial elephant in the room.
How and Why a Mass Employee Exodus is Expected
The survey reveals that a whopping 43% of utility industry employees are considering leaving the industry within 5 years. This is obviously troublesome, especially when you consider the survey collected 17,000 responses from employees and industry recruiters of global energy firms. Simply put, it’s a relatively large survey, which implies that it is more reflective of industry trends compared to smaller surveys.
Of course, this begs the question of why? Well, the top-3 reasons (representing nearly 70%) cited by the employee responders are low salary, lack of decent benefits, and lack of development opportunities. For recruiters, over 30% indicated that the top industry challenge is the aging workforce, leading to a skill deficit that has negatively impacted succession planning.
That said, the voluntary employee exodus is only part of the challenge. Of those who responded, 40% lost their job due to COVID in 2020 and 2021, and 55% said that another pandemic would motivate them to leave the industry. Similarly, employees have a greater expectation for remote and/or hybrid work schedules, and companies that fail to adapt to these preferences will be in even more of a pickle.
Overall, this paints a very grim picture. Even before COVID, it was common knowledge that a workforce transition was happening, making succession planning more difficult than before. But now, after nearly 2 years living with COVID, the picture is even more bleak.
The expected employee exodus will impact utilities in a multitude of ways, not the least of which relates to emergency planning, and restoration and recovery efforts. The difficulty filling primary employee roles is increasing, and this impacts filling second roles, or storm roles, as well.
Is there anything that can be done to stem the tide on this? Yes, but it certainly won’t be easy. Utility companies will need to increase their willingness and ability to offer flexible work schedules. They will also need to ramp up efforts to develop & nurture their employees – i.e., offering additional job training, cross training, role rotations, etc. And, although I hate to say it, employees will need to get paid more, and will likely demand better employee benefits as well.
There is little doubt, the employee exodus is happening, and it will be interesting to see where the industry is in this regard 3-5 years from now.
