Hydrogen attracts professionals despite slow project progress

Hydrogen attracts professionals despite slow project progress | Windpower Monthly

The Spain-based company found that the number of professionals in the sector was four times that in the previous year, with more job specialisations in the hydrogen chain and an increased offering of training in this field.

The report was produced against a revision of expectations in the industry that the geopolitical situation would give an immediate boost to the hydrogen sector.

Around three quarters of respondents (74%) thought that situations such as the conflict in Ukraine indirectly boost this sector – down from 84.2% in 2022 – while those who reserved judgement increased from 7.9% to 18%.

“This suggests a cooling of expectations where many operators were expecting a short-term resurgence,” the company said, adding that the reality is one of hydrogen projects with lengthy timelines, and political circumstances that “do not always align with economic timelines”.

Despite the low number of projects, the group identified a gradual transition from ‘on paper’ to ‘onsite’ projects. It saw increasing demand for professionals involved in project execution, installation or maintenance, and for those only required in advanced project phases, such as specialists in electrolysers, procurement and logistics, pipelines, electromechanics, safety, maintenance, transportation and software.

The report noted that hydrogen is an intersection of energy, chemistry, industrial production and logistics, and it was attracting professionals with hybrid profiles that include technical knowledge along with business, financial modelling and technical sales. Project managers were also required.

The company sent questionnaires to 4,150 professionals in 41 countries, most from regions with the most hydrogen projects – the EU, the US, Latin America and the Middle East. The pool of respondents illustrated the industry’s growth: only 1,089 questionnaires were sent last time.

A large majority of the surveyed individuals expect an expansion of the workforce in their organisations in the next year (88%). That percentage was similar in 2022, but a growing proportion expected expansion within six months (41.1%), compared with 36.4% in 2022.

A further change over the year was a shift in demand away from engineers (down from 50% in 2022 to 30% in 2023). Instead, there was a growing cohort in sales (up from 8% to 10.6%), other technical profiles (up from 13% to 14.6%) and management positions (up from 7% to 14%).

Most professionals had joined the hydrogen industry from the oil & gas sector (39%), while the other major sources were renewables (17%), the chemical industry (15%), infrastructure and construction (5%) and technology and services (4%).

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