The talent challenge: How to attract a skilled workforce for the energy transition

In an exclusive interview with Areti Ntaradimou during Enlit on the Road Rotterdam, Claudia Stolk, business manager at Rotterdam Partners, discusses the challenges and opportunities in recruiting young talent in the energy transition.

One of the biggest challenges in driving the energy transition has long been a skilled and passionate workforce.

Stolk notes that the main barrier in this regard has been and continues to be a matter of perception. Even though there may be substantial efforts of companies working for the greater good, big companies may have received a bad reputation from past work in oil and gas.

To illustrate this case, Stolk draws up Shell's Holland Hydrogen 1 as an example: “Shell is building the biggest electrolyser in Europe. It’s the first electrolyser [of such a huge scale] and so it gets a lot of international attention and draws people in.  

“However, at the same time, a lot of what Shell is doing is not so visible. And what stands out is the name ‘Shell’; people immediately think, ‘oil and gas - I don't want to participate in that company’. And that's an issue.”

Watch Stolk’s interview during Enlit on the Road Rotterdam to hear more on the problem of image for energy companies, how young talent often drives innovation and how we can resolve this issue to attract young talent onto the road to net zero.

“Once we here in Rotterdam are able to solve some of these challenges, these will go international because everyone is looking for solutions,” she adds.

More insights from Enlit on the Road Rotterdam:
Port of Rotterdam – How to make the biggest European port carbon neutral
Stedin chief talks realising, optimising and digitising the energy transition
Project visit: Residential power-to-gas