The inaugural edition of the World Energy Employment Report is – to the best of our knowledge – the first comprehensive inventory of the global energy workforce.

The report presents new estimates of the size and distribution of the labour force, across regions and technologies, and increases the granularity on the number of workers along the entire energy value chain. This includes fossil fuel and bioenergy production; power sector generation, transmission, distribution and storage; and end uses, including vehicles and energy efficiency for buildings and industry. It also details segments of the value chain where these jobs are located, including raw materials, manufacturing, construction, utilities, and wholesale, as well as how many are employed for building new projects versus operating existing energy facilities, which includes those working in operating and maintenance of plants. It also provides estimates for emerging segments for energy, including clean energy innovation.

This mapping can serve as a much-needed foundation for global energy decision makers, and provides important insights about the potential opportunities and impacts to labour markets under different drivers, particularly the transitions to clean energy, as well as shifting or development of supply chain capacities. How these labour markets evolve will be explored in depth by scenarios presented in our World Energy Outlook series.