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UK utilities hiring challenges employers cannot ignore in 2026

A couple of years ago, most discussions within the energy and utility landscape centred on targets and long-term ambition. At the Future of Utilities Energy Transition Summit, what stood out most was how much the conversation has shifted.Today, the conversation across the energy transition is far less about targets and far more about delivery, infrastructure, and workforce capability. UK utilities hiring is becoming one of the biggest risks to infrastructure delivery across the energy sector. Energy infrastructure projects, national power grid upgrades, and major energy transition programmes are all moving into delivery at the same time. However, many organisations are now facing the same challenge: projects are ready to move forward, but the utilities workforce required to deliver them is not in place early enough. The energy transition is no longer just a policy or technology challenge. It is increasingly a workforce planning, skills and delivery challenge across the entire energy infrastructure sector. Organisations that address UK utilities hiring and workforce planning early will be in a much stronger position to deliver projects on time and at scale. Why grid pressure and energy security are now driving hiring demand The industry has spent years talking about decarbonisation targets, but energy security and affordability are now major drivers of investment and infrastructure upgrades. For UK employers, this is changing the hiring landscape. National power grid modernisation and wider energy infrastructure projects require highly specialised engineering, commercial and project delivery capability. These are not new skillsets, but demand is now outpacing supply across the utilities workforce. Projects are not slowing down because ambition or funding is missing. They are slowing down because the right people are not in place early enough. This is leading to: Longer time to hire for critical infrastructure roles Increased competition between utilities, consultancies and contractors Greater reliance on contingent or project-based talent Growing pressure on utilities recruitment teams to secure talent earlier in the project lifecycle One statistic discussed at the event highlighted how quickly change can happen once economics shift. In China, around 50% of new cars sold are now electric vehicles, not primarily because of sustainability policy, but because electric vehicles have become the most economically viable option. As James Saoulli, CEO noted during discussions at the event: “If you want to drive change, you often have to start with the consumer and the economics. When it becomes the most viable option, that’s when things really start to move.” The same principle applies to energy infrastructure and the national power grid. Once technology becomes economically viable and scalable, adoption accelerates quickly, increasing pressure on infrastructure delivery and the utilities workforce needed to support it. Energy system complexity is rising faster than talent pipelines The UK energy system is becoming significantly more complex. The national power grid is now managing renewable generation, distributed energy, battery storage, electric vehicles and new nuclear capacity, all while maintaining energy security and affordability. This complexity is changing the types of roles organisations need within the utilities workforce. Employers increasingly need professionals who can operate across engineering, commercial, regulatory and digital environments rather than within narrow specialisms. Pierre Morvan, Head of Client Services EMEA, shared at the Future of Utilities event: “You’re also seeing new people coming into the space, learning and engaging, which is great. But more importantly, nuclear is taking on a new role within the energy mix. It’s becoming more directly connected to end users, rather than just acting as a link to the grid.” Talent pipelines have not evolved at the same pace as energy infrastructure projects. This is contributing to the UK skills gap and widening the talent shortage across the utilities sector. Utilities recruitment teams are increasingly looking for: Engineers with commercial awareness Commercial specialists who understand infrastructure constraints Project managers with energy infrastructure experience Digital and data specialists working within utilities environments The issue is not always a lack of people. Often, it is how organisations define roles and how they access talent from adjacent sectors with highly transferrable skills, such as rail, national infrastructure, construction, and technology sectors. Digital and AI capability is becoming core infrastructure in utilities and energy projects Digital capability is now core to energy infrastructure and utilities operations. Asset data, forecasting, AI and digital platforms are becoming central to how the national power grid operates and how utilities companies plan infrastructure investment. This creates another utilities recruitment challenge. Utilities organisations are now competing with technology companies, financial services and other sectors for digital and data professionals. As a result, the utilities workforce is changing. Utilities companies are no longer just infrastructure organisations. They are increasingly digital, data and technology organisations. This shift is changing how organisations approach utilities recruitment, workforce planning and long-term capability development. Another major theme across the Future of Utilities discussions was the changing role of the consumer in the energy system. Smart homes, solar, battery storage and electric vehicles are turning households into energy producers as well as consumers, with the ability to generate electricity and sell it back into the grid. James commented, “One of the most interesting sessions was hearing how homes will increasingly become energy producers rather than just consumers. This is extremely exciting!” This shift towards distributed energy, smart systems, and digital infrastructure means the utilities workforce of the future will need a much broader mix of engineering, digital, commercial, and data skills. The workforce conversation is changing, whether employers are ready or not One of the biggest shifts across the industry is how organisations are rethinking what a “skills shortage” actually means. Often, it is not simply a lack of people. It is how narrowly roles are defined and how rigid hiring criteria have been applied. The conversation is slowly shifting from talent shortage to talent access, development and workforce planning. Some organisations are addressing the UK skills gap by investing in training and development programmes to build capability rather than waiting for fully experienced candidates to become available. This is leading to more organisations: Hiring from adjacent infrastructure sectors Investing in training and development Building internal capability rather than relying only on external hiring Improving workforce planning linked to project timelines At the same time, ageing workforces, immigration policy changes, and global competition for technical talent mean organisations will need to be more creative in how they build their workforce over the next decade. What this means in practice What’s coming through consistently in the conversations we’re having is that hiring is still happening too late in the cycle. Teams are being built once projects are already underway, which is where delays start to creep in. By the time the gap is visible, the timeline is already under pressure. Bring workforce planning forward The organisations moving fastest are approaching this differently. They are mapping hiring against project timelines from the outset, rather than reacting once delivery has already started. That shift is important because it exposes another issue. When hiring is left too late, employers tend to fall back on very narrow role definitions in an attempt to reduce risk. This often makes roles harder to fill and slows things down further. Hire for capability, not just background There is a growing gap between how roles are defined and what the work actually involves. Projects now cut across technical and commercial boundaries, but hiring is still often based on tightly defined, role-specific experience. That mismatch is limiting access to talent. What we are seeing work is a shift towards capability. Employers that are open to transferable skills are accessing a much broader pool of people who can operate across that complexity, particularly when the right support is in place. Build capability, not just buy it There is still an assumption in parts of the market that the external talent pool will meet demand. For many specialist roles, that simply isn’t happening at the pace required. The organisations making progress are addressing this by building capability alongside hiring. That includes bringing people in from adjacent sectors and developing them to meet project requirements, rather than waiting for fully formed candidates to appear. This approach is helping teams become less dependent on an already stretched external market. We explored this in more detail in a recent webinar on reframing talent shortages. Embed digital into core teams A similar pattern is playing out with digital capability. In many organisations, it still sits alongside delivery rather than within it. That creates a disconnect between the tools being developed and how projects actually run. Where digital capability is embedded into core teams, it is improving decision making and helping projects move more efficiently. Where it isn’t, the impact is far more limited. The Future of Utilities The energy transition is often discussed as a technology or funding challenge, but increasingly it is becoming a workforce and delivery challenge. Across the UK and Europe, energy infrastructure investment and national power grid upgrades are all happening at the same time, and UK utilities hiring and workforce planning across the energy sector will be major factors in whether projects are delivered on time. Pierre shares, “What’s clear across Europe is that there’s strong agreement that renewables and nuclear are both key parts of the future. Even here in Amsterdam, speaking to companies from across Europe, you can see the same challenges and the same opportunities being discussed everywhere.” There is a lot of opportunity in the sector right now. That came through strongly last week. It remains one of the most attractive and meaningful areas to build a career. But the organisations that will succeed over the next decade will be the ones that treat workforce planning and capability development as a core part of their workforce strategy, not a downstream problem to solve once projects are already underway. Because increasingly, projects are not delayed by funding or engineering challenges. They are delayed because the right teams are not in place early enough. Workforce strategy is becoming infrastructure strategy.

Why nuclear waste disposal feels stuck despite advances in technology

Whenever the nuclear industry talks about introducing new reactor designs, new fuel technologies, expanding nuclear capacity, or accelerating deployment timelines, the conversation almost always returns to long-term nuclear waste disposal. For many outside the industry, it still remains the central hesitation point. Insights from Rullion’s Hot off the Grid series show that while engineering solutions have advanced significantly, regulatory frameworks and public understanding have moved more slowly. Jump to: How nuclear waste is managed in daily operations How regulatory structures slowed long-term nuclear waste disposal How nuclear engineering approaches to disposal have changed Why the word “waste” keeps the debate locked in place Where the nuclear industry now stands on disposal What this means for nuclear’s expansion How nuclear waste is managed in daily operations Why don’t we shoot nuclear waste into the sun? Popular suggestions such as launching waste into space often surface in public debate yet carry far greater technical risk than geological containment on Earth. Across nuclear facilities, spent fuel is stored in dry cask systems designed for long-term nuclear waste storage containment. The dry cask facilities use thick steel and reinforced concrete containers designed to withstand long-term exposure including seismic events and extreme weather. These systems have been in continuous use across operating sites for many years, with performance monitored under routine plant conditions. Rod Baltzer, whose career spans radioactive waste operations and now leadership as CEO at Deep Isolation, highlighted how close this infrastructure sits to everyday life. A large proportion of the U.S. population lives within roughly 50 miles of stored nuclear material, yet incidents linked to storage remain exceptionally rare. The controls, monitoring regimes, and regulatory oversight surrounding these facilities are extensive. The industry does not treat waste casually and hasn’t for decades. Where misunderstanding persists is in how this material is imagined. The gap between industry practice and public perception is substantial. Popular culture still leans toward images of leaking barrels and glowing sludge, while the reality is closer to heavy-industry containment and continuous inspection. This disconnect has shaped how the waste conversation unfolds in public and political spaces. How regulatory structures slowed long-term nuclear waste disposal Rani Franovich, Vice President of Regulatory Strategy at Deep Fission, experienced over thirty years inside the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission provides context for why disposal infrastructure has progressed more slowly than reactor operations. Much of today’s nuclear waste regulations were written around large repository concepts developed decades ago. In the late 1990s, regulatory oversight for operating plants shifted toward risk-informed performance measures. That approach improved how safety was assessed in real-world conditions. However, licensing frameworks for major infrastructure remained anchored to prescriptive rules developed around earlier repository concepts. Regulatory processes remain heavily prescriptive Approvals move at timescales disconnected from modern engineering cycles Innovation must fit rule sets written for earlier repository concepts Watch the full episode 8 of Hot off the Grid, where Rani Franovich talks about why nuclear regulation needs to change. Advanced containment approaches now exist, yet must follow pathways designed for large, mined repositories conceived decades ago. This regulatory lag is often what sits behind public frustration around how we dispose of nuclear waste permanently, even as modern engineering solutions become available. The result is extended approval timelines even where technical performance is well understood. How nuclear engineering approaches to disposal have changed Early nuclear disposal strategies focused on large underground repositories built through extensive excavation and permanent tunnel systems. Advances in nuclear waste technology, particularly in directional drilling and geological isolation, now allow nuclear material to be placed deep within stable geological formations using narrow boreholes that extend horizontally through selected rock layers. Within the nuclear industry, permanent nuclear waste disposal is now widely understood to centre on deep geological isolation, where material is emplaced far below groundwater systems in stable rock formations rather than large engineered underground facilities. Watch the full episode with Rod Baltzer where he explains how companies such as Deep Isolation apply drilling methods originally developed in oil and gas to emplace spent fuel far below groundwater systems with significantly reduced surface infrastructure. A similar geological logic underpins reactor concepts being developed by Deep Fission, which integrate reactor placement directly within deep boreholes to leverage natural containment and thermal properties of rock formations. Although applied to different parts of the nuclear lifecycle, both approaches reflect a broader industry shift toward precision underground engineering rather than cavern-scale construction. In our episode with Deep Fission’s CEO, Liz Muller, she discussed how these methods also change the economic profile of disposal, reducing build timelines and capital intensity compared with legacy repository designs. Deep Fission has since gone public, raised $80M in financing to accelerate commercialisation, and announced Parsons, Kansas as the site for its Reactor Pilot Project, further signalling how quickly these concepts are moving toward real-world deployment. From both a technical and financial standpoint, disposal strategies have moved into a new phase of feasibility. Why the word “waste” keeps the debate locked in place Jenifer Avellaneda, a senior engineer at Westinghouse Electric Company, regularly fields questions online about nuclear safety and fuel management. Almost all of them pivot on the same assumption: that nuclear material becomes an unusable hazard the moment it leaves a reactor.During our conversation with Jenifer, she mentioned she often begins by clarifying that much of what is referred to as waste is spent fuel that still contains usable energy and can be reprocessed in advanced fuel cycles. Beyond that technical point, she notes how language shapes perception. Once something is categorised as waste, people instinctively assume it must be removed immediately, isolated forever and treated as uniquely risky. That perception persists even though nuclear waste is not particularly hazardous or difficult to manage relative to other toxic industrial wastes, and safe methods for final disposal are technically proven through decades of experience in geological storage research. Avellaneda’s experience reflects a broader challenge within the sector. Technical explanations often lose ground to emotionally charged language that predates modern storage and disposal methods. Where the nuclear industry now stands on disposal In the UK, nuclear waste disposal policy centres on the development of a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF), overseen by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority. The UK’s approach combines long-term nuclear waste storage at existing sites with a structured, consent-based siting process for permanent deep geological disposal. While deliberately paced under established nuclear waste regulations, UK nuclear waste disposal is progressing through defined regulatory, geological assessment and community engagement stages rather than standing still. Across operational experiences, regulatory insight and engineering development, several consistent themes emerge: Current storage systems perform reliably and are closely monitored Deep geological isolation methods are technically achievable using current drilling technology Deployment speed and cost have improved markedly Risk assessment methods are conservative and continuously refined From a technical standpoint, nuclear waste is not an unsolved problem. This frequently leads to the broader question of “is nuclear waste disposal still a problem for the industry?” Technically, containment and isolation are increasingly well understood. The remaining barriers are largely regulatory adaptation and public confidence. The friction lies in: Infrastructure approval processes Regulatory frameworks built for legacy designs Public confidence shaped by outdated narratives Education barriers What this means for nuclear’s expansion Long-term disposal now shapes nuclear projects from the earliest planning stages through to licensing and financing. While modern containment methods offer faster and more practical pathways, regulatory frameworks continue to reflect earlier repository designs. This disconnect increasingly determines how quickly new nuclear infrastructure can move forward. From an engineering standpoint, permanent isolation is now technically achievable. The industry has already moved beyond the disposal concepts of the last century. The question is no longer whether permanent isolation is technically possible. It is how efficiently regulatory, engineering and public systems can move together. Hot off the Grid Rullion’s Hot off the Grid series brings these perspectives from in-depth discussions with professionals working directly in nuclear operations, regulation, and technology development. Nuclear waste management is only one of the topics explored in these conversations. If you’d like to hear more from the people referenced in this article, along with other voices across the nuclear ecosystem, you can explore the full series on YouTube.

Delivering a Compliant Workforce for a Data Centre Project in the Netherlands

A UK-based temporary electrical specialist supporting hyperscale infrastructure projects across Europe secured a very high profile data centre development project in Groningen, Netherlands. Data centre projects of this scale depend on skilled electrical contractors who can mobilise quickly while meeting strict compliance requirements. Something that increasingly requires specialist tech workforce solutions. However, when new labour legislation came into force in the Netherlands in January 2025, many labour supply models used across European construction stopped working overnight. For a tier 1 contractor delivering electrical works on a hyperscale data centre development project in Groningen, this created an immediate challenge: maintaining a reliable supply of skilled electrical contractors while remaining fully compliant with Dutch employment law. Workforce challenges on the data centre project The legislative changes meant that many labour supply arrangements commonly used across European construction were no longer compliant under Dutch law. Workers on site were now required to be paid through Dutch PAYE employment structures, leaving several previously viable labour models no longer workable. Reduced labour supply With fewer suppliers able to operate under the new legislation, the available pool of electricians capable of supporting the project was significantly reduced. This created immediate pressure on the contractor’s ability to maintain workforce continuity on site. Demand spikes for experienced data centre electricians Data centre construction environments require electricians who are familiar with complex electrical infrastructure and strict installation standards. Workers without this experience often require additional onboarding and supervision, which would have slowed project timelines. The Tier 1 contractor required electricians who could seamlessly integrate into an active site environment, and do so quickly. Location complicating workforce mobilisation Groningen is a major university city where short-term accommodation is limited. Not being able to secure suitable housing for incoming workers would have meant electricians couldn’t mobilise as quickly or remain close to the site. Building a compliant workforce solution To maintain workforce continuity and remain compliant with Dutch legislation, the project team required a different labour delivery approach. It combined compliant employment structures with targeted technical recruitment and workforce mobilisation support. Establishing a compliant PAYE structure A Netherlands-based payroll partner and Employer of Record (EoR) structure was introduced, allowing workers to be employed under Dutch PAYE legislation while supporting the contractor’s operational and commercial requirements. This ensured all electricians deployed to the project were engaged through fully compliant employment arrangements. Targeted recruitment of experienced electrical contractors Recruitment focused specifically on electricians and electrical mates with experience working on large-scale electrical infrastructure projects, including data centres and mission-critical environments. This approach ensured workers arriving on site were already familiar with the installation standards and safety procedures, as well as the pace of work typical of hyperscale data centre construction. Supporting workforce mobilisation Accommodation was secured locally to ensure incoming workers could mobilise quickly and remain within close proximity to the site. This removed a key logistical barrier and allowed electricians to deploy without delays linked to housing availability in Groningen. Maintaining workforce continuity on site To support long-term project delivery, a rotating workforce structure was introduced. This allowed electricians to move on and off rotation while maintaining a consistent workforce presence on the project. Labour supply therefore remained stable throughout the build schedule. Workforce delivery outcomes Skilled electricians deployed to the project from July 2025 A rotating workforce of 4–6 electricians consistently supporting the site Full compliance with Dutch PAYE legislation Accommodation secured locally to support workforce mobilisation Workforce continuity maintained despite supply chain disruption The project remains active and is expected to continue through July 2026 Workforce solutions for complex infrastructure projects Rullion’s tech workforce solutions are designed to help organisations deploy skilled technical talent while maintaining compliance with local employment and safety requirements. By combining specialist recruitment with compliant employment structures and mobilisation support, we help ensure critical projects can maintain workforce continuity from early construction through to completion. If you're planning a large-scale infrastructure project and would like to explore how a compliant workforce model could support delivery, book a discovery call with our team.