A guide to building a net-zero workforce for HR and L&D professionals
A structured approach to skilling decisions
Workforce shortages are already slowing clean tech delivery. By 2030, the solar, battery, and hydrogen industries will need hundreds of thousands of skilled workers to meet planned project build-outs. Most companies already face rising competition for core operational roles, and employers expect nearly 40% of required skills to be disrupted in the next five years.
So in today’s energy landscape, this makes structured workforce planning a strategic necessity. The right framework allows you to identify critical skills early, align internal mobility and external hiring, and create upskilling plans tied directly to business outcomes.
what you will learn
This practical guide gives HR and L&D leaders a step-by-step approach to map, validate, and close skill gaps with clarity and speed. You will gain:
- A structured 7-step framework to identify and prioritise skill gaps
- Methods to align business, manager, and employee inputs into a single workforce plan
- Key strategy questions to shape board-level discussions around workforce readiness
- Additional factors to stress-test your plan, from talent pool dynamics to internal mobility and market competition
This is the updated edition of our guide, first published on 13 October 2025
