Which IT contractors will jump to the energy industry to outfox this downturn? Probably smart ones

It’s fair to say the UK tech labour market has faced a brutal two years. I don’t mind admitting; they’ve been the toughest of my 28 years in technology recruitment, writes Matt Collingwood, managing director of IT recruitment agency VIQU IT, and energy recruitment specialists Consult Energy.

(The sinking feeling of) death by a thousand applications

Only yesterday, I spoke with an IT contractor - ‘Rob’ - who finished his last networking assignment in late 2023 and told me he’s sent his CV to over 1,000 roles in the past year. This previously £700-a-day limited company contractor is now volunteering at his local charity shop, simply to keep himself busy.

The question Rob asked me — a question I’ve been asked many times since the IT contractor demand hit the skids— is:

What other options exist outside of tech that I could do, professionally, and earn good money from in a technical role?

Regardless of the fact the IT contract jobs market is beginning to slowly turn in the right direction, I think it’s prudent for IT professionals who are interested in pivoting -- in this current month of goal-setting -- to step back and consider retraining for, and the remuneration of, the buoyant energy sector.

After the highs of 2022 in tech recruitment—a year that saw our turnover at VIQU IT grow by 25%—2023 brought us crashing back to earth.

There were fewer contract IT assignments; more clients opted to handle talent in-house, and some resorted to penny-pinching with unreasonably low contractor pay rates.

We switched codes and jumped to Energy when Technology got tumbleweedy. Will you?

We recognised that technology faced a challenging road ahead. As a result, we made the significant decision (for the first time in our trading history) to diversify from generalist tech into a new sector.

We snapped up a recruitment business called Consult Energy, which had been trading for 15 years in the energy and renewables industries. This move was a strategic step. Energy is a market that we knew would experience substantial growth and demand in the coming years.

Numbers don’t lie

So far, this strategy is proving itself to be correct.

If we examine VIQU’s top 20 tech clients—whose accounts are public information—17 of the 20 have reduced their Full-Time Employee numbers. By contrast, an analysis of Consult Energy’s top 20 energy-specific clients shows that 16 have increased their FTE numbers over the last two years.

The energy sector has seen robust growth.

Valued at £24.4billion in 2023, Energy rose by 6% compared to the previous year. This upward trajectory is expected to see the industry exceed £41bn in value by 2035.

What I told Rob…

Before I go any further, a caveat.

The following isn’t a ‘silver bullet’ for every contractor who has experienced long gaps between contracts. It applies to some freelance techies with particular skillsets or backgrounds. And from this small pool, it will still obviously require effort.

But I firmly believe jumping to energy industry technical jobs if you’ve got an IT background could future-proof opportunities and earnings. This is the case for certain technologists whose radar, right now, Energy isn’t even on!

So what did I tell Rob?

Well, I said my recent experience in Energy has shown me that, unlike Technology, it remains a contractor-led, and candidate-led market.

In other words, if you have the right skills, the demand for technical types is reliably consistently high.

Electric Vehicle Charger Engineer: a role that workers with tech skills can turn their hands to

An example of a role in high demand is Electric Vehicle Charger (EVC) engineer.

I met an EVC engineer only the other day; let’s call him ‘Sage.’

Well, Sage started out on a helpdesk, moved into desktop support and security, and after a few years made the decision to get into contracting, whereby he freelanced and consulted here and there on three-month assignments.

But spotting an opportunity, Sage used his spare time between gigs to retrain as a qualified electrician.

Boomed: From Helpdesk Support to EVC Engineer (in approx. 37 months)

He completed a Professional Electrician course in 18 weeks. He then managed to get two years’ experience ‘in the field’ (partly with the help of the course).

But the real strategic move? He then transitioned into EV installations.

After nine months of gaining experience in the commercial EV space, Sage moved (back) into contracting; this time as a contract EVC engineer.

Sage followed the demand

The UK has set a target of installing 300,000 public EVCs by 2030.

To achieve this, around 2,800 chargers need to be installed each month.

Moreover, the Competition and Markets Authority estimates that the UK will actually require closer to 500,000 chargers by 2030.

With the average EVC installation costing around £1,250 and taking three hours to complete, the typical profit margin is 25%.

This means skilled EV installer technicians working directly with suppliers are comfortably earning £750 per day or more.

What else is a good energy industry technical job for an IT worker?

We’ve seen many tech professionals over the past five years take a sidestep into Smart Meter installations.

To meet installation targets, companies are actively recruiting engineers from telecoms and IT, and then retraining them to install Smart Meters.

In fact, I know engineers who’ve increased their earnings by over 20%, and importantly for their mental health, they aren’t left on the bench either, because opportunities are plentiful.

With smart meter installations, workers transitioning from tech into energy typically start on the domestic side of the industry. The high-voltage sector has a higher barrier to entry and requires specific experience, so don’t expect to be running power stations or servicing transmission towers straight away. Excuse the pun, but this is no flick-switch career move!

The UK’s long-term future is bright, but largely because that future is tech & energy jobs-led

The future of energy is set to be shaped by a massive push towards green initiatives.

The UK has committed to achieving net zero by 2050.

This target means that total greenhouse gas emissions must equal the amount removed from the atmosphere, with the aim of limiting global warming and its effects on climate change. Additionally, the UK has pledged to reduce emissions by 68% by 2030 as part of its “Nationally Determined Contribution” under the Paris Agreement.

For anyone sceptical about the UK energy industry’s demand for technology skills, or IT expertise, we know for a fact that energy recruiters will be eager to connect with you, if you cross-train into areas such as EV Installation or Domestic Solar. We know this because we are such an agency! And we know our rivals feel the same way.

A bit more about operations. We’re currently working with one energy company based in the Northwest of England. They provide energy meters and meter reading services. This energy sector provider has explicitly instructed us to:

'Introduce technology/telecoms candidates to our energy-related roles.'

We’re doing so actively and interestingly, their ‘take’  is that these candidates – telco contractors and computer consultants -- possess the most transferable skills that can easily be reapplied through training.

Yet for those who don’t have the skills to transfer to the energy sector, or who want to remain true to tech, there is still hope.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) this month released research highlighting the top skills and job roles expected to see the most growth by 2030.

Encouragingly, 13 of the 15 fastest-growing roles are in Technology. The remaining two? You guessed it; they are in Energy!

Specifically, they are Autonomous/Electric Vehicle Specialists, and Engineers (Environmental, and Renewable Energy);

The future of sought-after work (cont.)

The WEF’s report also highlighted: 

  • Shifting global trends in technology, the economy, demographics, and the green transition are expected to generate 170 million new jobs by 2030, while displacing 92 million others. 
  • The fastest-growing skills by 2030 will include technological capabilities alongside human skills such as cognitive abilities and collaboration.
  • Collective action by public, private, and education sectors is urgently needed to address the widening skills gap. 

Change is something we’ve all witnessed in our lifetimes, and it’s not a new concept. We all know the story of Kodak. The once very fondly-regarded company was too slow to innovate and embrace digital photography, despite having developed the early digital cameras. As a result, Eastman Kodak Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US on January 19th 2012. 

Whether the WEF’s findings on the fastest-growing tech jobs 2025-2030 are as accurate as those rooted in the tech supply chain will be hoping, one message will inevitably ring true – a message I shared with Rob:

Some people will have their jobs displaced – or put another way, don’t be one of the 92million displaced workers

“Economic slowdown” will, on its own, displace 1.6 million jobs between 2025 and 2030, as part of the 92 million total jobs displaced in total, according to the WEF.

Vulnerable are individuals who fail to adapt and who don’t evolve. For others, the demand for their skills or services being quiet right now is merely a blip, despite how frustrating and hopeless it can sometimes feel. If you’re a contractor in this latter group, rest assured that you will be needed again – just as soon as the technology jobs market slowly gets back to its feet.

The challenge is recognising which camp your skillset is in.

The smart bet? Seek out a specific ‘future-proof’ skill. A niche professional offering or an area of training/upskilling that’s here to grow not just stay. For that, you could do a lot worse than Britain’s bustling energy sector.

Today’s ‘Plan B’ might become ‘Plan A’ once the future arrives…

Energy offers less of a ‘back-up’ job if you’re an IT or tech contractor and more of a ‘Plan’ B’ that’s primed to potentially become your ‘Plan A.’ And you can still be a contractor, with all the positives that contracting entails. Given the sheer number of jobs and assignments Energy will offer over the next half-decade or so and chiefly with consistency, I’m yet to be convinced there’s a better second string to add to your bow as a worker in Technology. In fact, while you and I have our natural differences, contractors and recruiters alike will both need to be ready for when the transformation of the tech and energy industries matures, with career-changing, divergent effects on jobs and recruitment.

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Written by Matt Collingwood

Matt Collingwood is the managing director of VIQU IT, an IT recruitment and project-based consultancy company with offices in Birmingham and Southampton. VIQU IT forms part of the VIQU Group, which also includes Consult Energy, MoveATech and Morela. Additionally, Matt is the co-founder of the Recruitment Canaries, a network of West Midlands-based recruitment agencies that encourage collaboration, best-practice and upholding the standards and ethics of the recruitment industry.

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