APAC dominates energy sector employment

Almost 30% of the global workforce was in China.

More than half of the global energy employment is in the Asia Pacific, with China alone holding almost 30% of the total workforce, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

In a report, the IEA said the higher employment in APAC is due to the rapid energy infrastructure expansion, as well as the lower cost of labour which paved the way for clean energy manufacturing hubs supplying materials for solar, electric and hybrid vehicles, and batteries.

Despite this, established energy companies in North America and Europe kept their market strength and have a large employment base across domestic and overseas projects.

“The construction of new projects, including the manufacture of their components, is the largest driver of energy employment across the value chain,” it said. 

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The IEA noted that over 60% of the workforce is involved in the development of new projects which include “building power plants, bringing oil wells online and laying pipelines, manufacturing cars, carrying out efficiency retrofits and installing high-efficiency electric heat pumps.”

The report found that globally, clean energy accounts for over 50% of total energy workers as many projects come online.

Low-carbon power generation, mainly solar and wind,  has 7.8 million employees similar to oil and gas, whilst vehicle manufacturing employment is currently at 13.6 million, with 10% of them in the manufacturing of electric vehicles and their components, and batteries.