EMEA Energy Market Insights: Webinar Recap

Our recent webinar brought together Spencer Ogden’s Paul King, Emily Abbott, and Scarlett Menzies, alongside industry leaders John McGrath (LinkedIn), Chris Brookes (Pentagon Technical Services), and Paul Mudd (TRS and Energy Industries Council).

Our panel explored the latest shifts across infrastructure, sustainability, and the wider energy markets in EMEA, and what these trends mean for hiring, skills, and workforce planning going into Q4.

Below is a roundup of the key themes and insights shared during the session.

Hiring Trends Across EMEA: A Stable but Selective Market

Paul King opened with an overview of Q3 hiring activity from Spencer Ogden’s market update. While the quarter showed a slight softening in volume (around five per cent down quarter on quarter), much of this was linked to seasonal patterns and short term project cycles rather than a drop in confidence.

The overall sentiment remains positive. Clients are taking a more strategic, long term approach to building capability, focusing on the right roles rather than high volume hiring. As a result, engineering, commissioning, and project delivery roles continue to dominate demand, especially across data centres, grid modernisation, and nuclear activity.

Growth Areas: Data Centres, Grid Projects, and Energy Transition Roles

Infrastructure remains a major growth driver across the region, with strong activity in:

Data centre delivery, especially in the Nordics
Grid modernisation projects, driven by increased electrification
Nuclear recommissioning, creating demand for specialised engineering skills

On the sustainability side, hiring is steady across solar, wind, grid connection, energy storage, and commissioning roles. Many clients are now prioritising capability building and investing in core teams that can support multi year transition goals, rather than the rapid scaling seen in previous years.

Workforce Models and Retention: Balancing Flexibility with Stability

Contract hiring continues to dominate across EMEA due to fluctuating project timelines and overlapping delivery windows. Permanent hiring is still active but more targeted, usually focused on senior technical, finance, governance, and regulatory roles.

Across the panel, there was a clear theme: organisations are increasingly looking to retain skilled teams over the long term. Leadership development, mobility, and investment in core capability are becoming essential to workforce planning as transition projects expand.

LinkedIn Talent Insights: High Demand and a Growing Talent Pool

John McGrath shared real time data from LinkedIn Talent Insights showing strong growth across the EMEA talent market:

16% increase in professionals year on year
13% movement in job transitions
Almost 4,000 live roles across 40,000 platforms at the time of the webinar

Demand remains extremely high across engineering, commissioning, project management, and civil engineering. At the same time, attrition is rising, with many large employers seeing between six and fifteen per cent turnover in the last twelve months.

This creates a dual challenge: attracting new talent while strengthening retention. John highlighted the importance of employer brand, strategic sourcing, and a more predictive approach to workforce planning.

Data Centre Project Delivery: Practical Challenges on the Ground

Chris Brooks and Scarlett Menzies explored the realities of technical hiring across Europe’s data centre market. Several practical issues are slowing down mobilisation:

Talent is available, but often based in the wrong locations, such as Middle East applicants for European roles
Visa and compliance requirements delay mobilisation
Short term project cycles make contractor retention difficult
Severe skill shortages in MEP, electrical commissioning, and technical services

Chris described Pentagon’s “hire, train, deploy” model as one solution. By training new hires directly on client projects, companies can build a stronger, more predictable talent pipeline. Modular construction and prefabrication were also noted as ways to reduce on site labour demand.

The Future Workforce: Retention, Returners, and Skills Gaps

Paul Mudd emphasised that the sector must shift from cyclical to structural workforce planning. He shared initiatives aimed at widening the talent pool, including flexible and part time roles to attract returners, particularly women in STEM.

However, upskilling remains difficult. Many experienced professionals are reluctant to move into new industries, choosing overseas opportunities or early retirement instead. Combined with ageing workforces in key technical areas, this creates bottlenecks for large infrastructure and energy transition programmes.

Without stronger planning, simultaneous project launches could create competition for the same talent pool, driving up costs and slowing delivery.

Regulation, Investment Patterns, and New Skills Demand

The panel also touched on the impact of shifting regulation, permitting, and funding. Delayed approvals continue to create “cliff edge” hiring spikes rather than predictable demand, making early planning crucial.

At the same time, investment patterns are shifting. Some private investors are moving away from offshore wind and into data centres. Manufacturing relocations from the US to Europe are also creating new clusters of hiring demand.

Security and compliance are becoming significant skill areas, with many smaller companies needing to recruit roles they have never hired for before.

Talent Mobility: Thinking Beyond Borders

Regional mobility continues to shape hiring in EMEA. The panel noted strong flows from the Middle East into Europe, and movement from Canada into France. The Netherlands is emerging as a digital economy hub with a particularly international workforce.

Local hiring is still preferred for long term stability, but in reality, skill shortages make international recruitment unavoidable. Early planning and realistic mobilisation timelines are key to successful delivery.

Key Recommendations for Q4 and Beyond

Paul King closed the session with several practical recommendations for clients and industry leaders:

Start planning earlier as approvals and mobilisation timelines lengthen
Balance permanent and contract hiring to create both stability and flexibility
Look beyond borders, especially for niche skills
Lead with purpose, offering development, progression, and retention pathways
Build strategic partnerships across the supply chain to stay competitive

Looking ahead to 2026, many organisations are already thinking about how to build resilient teams, plan earlier, and secure critical skills in a more selective market. If you would value an advisory session, are reviewing your workforce strategy, or need support with hiring across infrastructure, sustainability, or other energy sectors, we’d be happy to help.

Please contact us or get in touch with your Spencer Ogden contact and we will assist you.