Traditional energy

GETI 2025: Traditional energy

Despite a turbulent start to the 2020s, salary increases are now back on track and optimism around future pay is high. Organisations are increasingly focused on developing professionals’ core skills and competencies to create workforce resilience and flexibility as well as to keep in step with the ever-evolving energy transition.

Demographics

Over the past five years, the percentage of female respondents has slowly increased from 10 per cent in 2021 to 12 per cent this year.

The percentage of 35-to-44-year-olds has grown over time (28 per cent in 2021 to 32 per cent in 2025), while the percentage of 25-to 34-year-olds has declined, and the under 25s category also remains low.

Reflecting on the changing demographics, Margie Harris, former Executive Vice President and Chief HR and Administrative Officer at Tellurian Inc, says: “Few young people aspire to be a petroleum engineer when roles in robotics and high tech, for example, are marketed and may be so much more compelling. Starting from high school, we should shine a brighter light on the technology innovations that make our sector just as interesting as others, such as unmanned drilling and drones, to help convince both students and their parents that the sector offers dynamic, fulfilling careers.”

Pay trends

Data from the past five years reveals a positive trend in salary increases after the challenging period of 2021 and 2022.The year 2024 marked a significant turning point, with more professionals experiencing pay rises than those whose salaries remained stagnant. Currently, half of the workforce reports an increase in their earnings, and 26 per cent have enjoyed raises exceeding five per cent. Only five per cent indicated a decline in their pay.

Hiring managers report the same upward trend; in 2021, 38 per cent reported a salary increase, compared to 61 per cent in 2025. This year is the first year where increases show signs of flattening out, with the percentage reporting a large increase (five per cent or more) falling for the first time since 2021.

Janette Marx, CEO of Airswift, comments: “As the industry recovered from COVID-19, pay did not keep up with inflation. Over the last couple of years, many companies focused on closing this gap to accurately reflect the highly technical competency of the positions, which has helped attract and retain employees.”

Optimism for salary progression has trended upward every year over the past five years; in 2021, 49 per cent of professionals expected a pay increase, compared to 71 per cent in 2025. This year, 42 per cent predict a pay rise of more than five per cent. Concurrently, only two per cent anticipate a pay decrease – a significant change in fortunes from 2021, when 19 per cent expected this to be the case.

Hiring managers share the same trend and are equally optimistic, with 72 per cent expecting pay to increase, compared to 48 per cent in 2021.

Global mobility

Over the past five years, the expatriate workforce has remained around 40 per cent – higher than any other energy industry sector. Although traditional energy professionals report an increase in cross- regional transfers on offer, a higher proportion are more reluctant to relocate now. In 2025, only 80 per cent of the workforce would consider relocating, compared to 89 per cent in 2021.

Marx explains: “Some companies are moving to localise expatriates sooner to reduce overheads, which is weakening the financial incentive to relocate. The industry’s contractor cohort remains strong, however, these factors shouldn’t lead to a shortage of talent. That said, if organisations are facing a shortfall, it’s these types of policies that should be reviewed along with a greater focus on career progression as part of the complete package.”

Europe is the region traditional professionals would most like to relocate to, although its attraction has waned in recent years, falling from a peak of 30 per cent in 2022 to 26 per cent this year.The Middle East remains a firm favourite in second place. Interest in relocating to North America has also remained consistent since 2021, although since 2023, professionals are more likely to consider opportunities in Asia.

When analysing key motivations for relocation, career progression is the single most important factor and has increased since 2021 reaching 50 per cent in 2025. This is opposite to the trends witnessed in renewable and transitional energy sectors, where the importance of career progression has declined. Lifestyle and low cost of living retain second place, joined in third place by culture in 2021 and 2022, and remuneration from 2023 onwards.

For the minority not wanting to move, proximity to family is the top concern, although notably, this has fallen year on year. Similarly, children’s education has consistently featured in the top three since 2021.

Harris explains: “There’s still demand for international assignments, but for those professionals with families, there’s often a need to balance the growth of two careers. Some larger companies are increasingly making or finding opportunities to keep families together by, for example, placing them on the same project or by making introductions to hiring managers within their network at the project location.

There has also been a steady increase in the lack of opportunities to relocate according to professionals, from 11 per cent in 2021 to 19 per cent this year.

“Recent consolidations within the industry have seen organisations retain local expertise rather than relocate existing employees, which may explain an increase in the lack of opportunities to relocate,” Harris adds.

Attracting and retaining talent

Since 2023, interest in switching roles within and outside the energy industry has remained static. This year, only 14 per cent would not consider moving to another role, with slightly under two-thirds (62 per cent) curious about other roles within traditional energy. Two-fifths would consider moving to another energy sector, with renewables the most popular choice. Interest in renewables was at its lowest in 2023 (56 per cent) but has risen sharply to 71 per cent this year.

A fifth would consider a move outside of energy with technology a firm favourite; since 2023, nearly a third (28 per cent) of professionals would consider switching to it. Transport, logistics and infrastructure have consistently held second place since 2022, with interest fluctuating only slightly over the years, with manufacturing in third.

Marx says: “Traditional energy professionals have a lot of transferable skills to offer. Those in the middle of their careers will typically seek to maximise career progression and remuneration rather than stay with what they know, which could include moving to a non-energy sector. Developing career opportunities should not solely be the responsibility of the HR team; from board room agendas to line managers’ to do lists, there is a companywide responsibility to ensure every team member can achieve personal growth.”

Opportunities for career progression is the number one reason for switching roles over the past five years, hovering between 33 per cent and 37 per cent. While ESG was important at the beginning of the 2020s, its importance has waned towards the middle of the decade and interest in the wider industry has resided in second place since 2023. More recently, remuneration and benefits, technology and job security have all been of greater interest to professionals.

The number of approaches that traditional professionals are experiencing for positions outside of their current company is increasing year on year, indicating intensifying competition for talent.This year professionals received 5.80 approaches on average, slightly down from 6.00 in 2024 but still ahead of 5.51 in 2023. Around a third (33 per cent) of these approaches came from outside the industry – a figure that has remained steady since 2023.

Harris comments: “Although there have been significant consolidations over the past year, the demand for talent in the traditional energy industries remains robust. The experienced workforce is nearing retirement; therefore, backfilling and planning for the future is a focus. Many firms continue to train and develop to broaden skillsets and expand employees’ core competencies, creating resilience and flexibility within their workforces.”

The outlook

The top four opportunities facing the energy sector have not changed between 2021 and 2025, although there have been some significant movements in their importance.

Engineering techniques and technology remain the top opportunity overall, though its share has dropped from 44 per cent to 37 per cent. Meanwhile, the energy transition has surged from 30 per cent to 37 per cent, surpassing economic outlook in some regions. Professionals now rank the energy transition as the leading opportunity in South America, North America, Australasia, and Europe.

Conversely, the opportunity posed by the economic outlook has fallen dramatically since 2021, from 37 per cent to just a quarter (25 per cent) in 2025. Digitally enabled skills and competencies, along with safety, have also risen in potential since 2021.

Marx observes: “The results reflect the story of how the industry is evolving. Pressure has increased to make the industry cleaner, safer and more efficient – advanced technologies and techniques remain a key part of that, but AI is also coming to the fore, as we saw in last year’s GETI. Additionally, it has become increasingly imperative that we achieve this regardless of the political climate or economic pressures.”

When asked how confident professionals are that their employer is resilient to the changes it has faced and will face in the future, the response was positive. Over two-thirds (71 per cent) said quite or very confident – an increase of 14 per cent since 2021.

To build greater resilience, professionals identify a greater need to increase training and mentorship programmes (up from 20 per cent in 2021 to 28 per cent in 2025) as well as a greater focus on cost management plans (up from 23 per cent to 27 per cent).

Harris reflects: “As the energy transition gains pace, the average professionals’ career is being reengineered every five years so it’s encouraging to see that organisations are being more proactive on training and mentoring to keep up.”

Interestingly, a lower percentage of professionals believe their employers should adopt automation and digital techniques (falling four per cent to 21 per cent in 2025), while transformation projects are now considered more important (up from 12 per cent to 19 per cent).

Summary

Traditional energy professionals are optimistic for the years ahead, with the energy transition creating new career opportunities and driving new engineering techniques and technologies forward. A heightened focus on training and mentorship alongside career progression will ensure traditional energy professionals remain engaged in delivering safer, cleaner, and more efficient energy in the years to come.

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