Workforce planning in a tight market: how far ahead should you look?

Renewable energy projects are planned years ahead. The people needed to deliver them often are not.

That mismatch is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

Across solar PV, onshore and offshore wind, battery storage and grid infrastructure, businesses are competing for many of the same engineers, project leaders, commercial specialists and technical experts. At the same time, project pipelines can change quickly as permitting, grid connections, financing and supply chains move.

For hiring managers, that creates an awkward question: how far ahead can you realistically plan your workforce?

Too late, and the people you need may already be committed elsewhere. Too early, and you risk recruiting against a project schedule that changes underneath you.

The answer is not simply "hire earlier". It is to understand which roles need a longer runway, where the market is genuinely constrained and when a conversation should begin.

A growing sector does not automatically mean an available workforce

The renewable energy workforce is large and still expanding. IRENA and the International Labour Organization estimate that at least 16.6 million people were employed in renewable energy globally in 2024. Solar PV accounted for 7.2 million jobs, while wind employed approximately 1.9 million people.

But headline employment numbers only tell part of the story.

IRENA notes that jobs remain heavily concentrated geographically, with the five largest employment markets accounting for more than 85% of global renewable energy employment.

More importantly for employers, having millions of people working somewhere in renewables does not mean there are enough people with the right experience, in the right location, available at the right point in a project's lifecycle.

The IEA's June 2026 report on the renewable energy and energy efficiency workforce specifically highlights increasing demand for skilled workers and continuing skills gaps across renewables and grids. Its research draws partly on surveys involving more than 700 respondents across industry, labour and education.

That changes the workforce planning conversation.

The question is no longer:

"When do we need this person to start?"

It is:

"When do we need to know who this person could be?"

Those are two very different dates.

The 12-month view: know where the pressure is coming

For businesses with a reasonably visible project pipeline, workforce planning should start at least 12 months out.

That does not mean opening every vacancy a year in advance. It means identifying where future demand is likely to collide with a limited talent pool.

Look at the projects expected to move through development, construction, commissioning and operations. Then map the roles required at each stage.

Which positions can be recruited relatively quickly?

Which require specific technology, geography or project-scale experience?

Which individuals would be particularly difficult to replace if they left?

And which roles will several projects require simultaneously?

This is where planning becomes useful.

A business expecting three projects to enter construction within a six-month period does not have three separate recruitment challenges. It has one workforce capacity problem that needs to be understood before those projects arrive.

Six to nine months out: start mapping people, not filling vacancies

This is where organisations can gain a meaningful advantage.

For harder-to-find positions, six to nine months before the anticipated requirement is a sensible point to begin understanding the external market.

That means identifying relevant people, understanding competitor activity and speaking to candidates who may not currently be looking for another job.

Some of the strongest candidates in renewable energy are not actively applying for roles. They may be delivering a project and unwilling to move before a milestone is reached. Others could have notice periods, bonuses, retention arrangements or personal commitments that affect their availability.

If the first conversation happens when somebody is already needed on site, those realities become problems.

If it happens months earlier, they become planning information.

This is one reason Hunter Philips' approach is built around market understanding rather than simply reacting to vacancies. The company's tone and positioning centre on being data-led, straightforward and knowledgeable about the renewable energy talent market, rather than adding unnecessary complexity to recruitment.

Three months out can already be late

Imagine an EPC contractor wins a project and needs an experienced Project Director within 12 weeks.

On paper, three months sounds reasonable.

Then the search begins.

The people with genuinely relevant experience are identified. Several are midway through existing projects. One has a three-month notice period. Another is interested but has already started conversations with two competing employers. A third would relocate, but not until their current project reaches commissioning.

Suddenly, a 12-week hiring window looks very different.

This is where organisations can end up compromising. Perhaps they appoint someone with adjacent rather than direct experience. Perhaps an existing team member stretches across two projects. Or perhaps they pay considerably more because the available talent pool has narrowed to a handful of people.

The cost of late workforce planning is therefore not limited to recruitment fees or salary.

It can affect project delivery itself.

Not every hire needs the same runway

Good workforce planning should not treat every vacancy equally.

A role that exists in large numbers across several adjacent industries may need relatively little forward planning. A senior technical specialist with experience of a particular technology, market and project phase is different.

The more filters attached to a position, the smaller the genuine talent pool becomes.

Consider the difference between looking for "an electrical engineer" and looking for someone who has worked on utility-scale battery storage, understands grid connection requirements in a particular market, has managed contractors and can lead a team.

Each requirement makes sense individually.

Together, they can create a very small shortlist.

The same principle applies to senior leadership. Executives, Country Managers, Project Directors and Heads of function are rarely interchangeable. Their relationships, market knowledge and track record often matter as much as their job title.

For these positions, workforce planning can reasonably extend 12 to 18 months ahead.

You may not be recruiting yet. But you should know the market you will eventually be recruiting from.

Expert Insight

Ken Meaney, Director and Specialist in the Power Grid sector at Hunter Philips, says that in a tight talent market, effective workforce planning is increasingly about understanding the people you may need months before a vacancy officially exists.

"One of the biggest mistakes we see is businesses waiting until a project is confirmed before they start thinking seriously about the people they'll need to deliver it. By that point, some of the strongest candidates may already be committed to another project, several months into a notice period or speaking with competitors. Planning ahead doesn't mean hiring people before you need them. It's about knowing where the talent is, understanding when people might become available and building those relationships early. If you know you'll need a Project Director, Engineering Manager or specialist technical hire in six to nine months, you should already have a picture of that market. The companies that do this well aren't necessarily recruiting earlier than everyone else. They're simply starting from a much stronger position when the time comes to hire."

The wider workforce needs to keep pace

There is another reason to think further ahead.

Renewable energy deployment is continuing to create demand for people, but training and workforce development take time. IRENA argues that education and training need to form part of a wider approach to renewable energy growth, while the IEA has similarly highlighted barriers affecting energy education and training.

The challenge is therefore bigger than individual companies competing over the same candidates.

The industry has to broaden its workforce.

That can mean looking at transferable experience from conventional power, infrastructure, utilities, construction and other engineering-led industries. It can mean investing in people who meet 80% of a requirement rather than repeatedly competing for the small group who meet 100%.

It also means thinking about retention.

There is little value in planning your external hiring 12 months ahead while ignoring the people already inside the business.

So, how far ahead should you look?

There is no single number, but there is a useful framework.

12 to 18 months ahead: understand your project pipeline, succession risks, senior appointments and specialist roles.

Six to nine months ahead: map relevant external talent and start building relationships for difficult or business-critical hires.

Three to six months ahead: move from market mapping into active recruitment where project timelines are sufficiently certain.

Under three months: expect the available talent pool to be smaller, particularly for specialist and senior appointments.

The important distinction is that workforce planning does not mean hiring people before you need them.

It means avoiding the situation where a critical project requirement becomes the first moment you look at the talent market.

In a tight market, the companies with the clearest view of their future workforce needs have more options. They can build relationships earlier, understand salary expectations, identify transferable talent and make better-informed decisions about where a genuine skills shortage exists.

Renewable energy projects require years of planning around land, capital, technology, grid connections and supply chains.

The workforce deserves the same attention.