The energy sector is being impacted by changes that will continue to challenge this sector into the foreseeable future. Technology is an essential player driving and supporting industry needs to increase efficiency, upgrade IT infrastructure and ensure compliance with government regulations.
TEKsystems’ Energy IT Workforce Snapshot is designed to provide a high-level view of trends impacting IT spending and IT employment within the energy sector. This report can help organizations create a benchmark for comparing IT goals with industry peers and provide a reality check for potential challenges related to securing the right IT professionals.
IT Workforce
snapshot
2013
Table of Contents
Energy It spending projections ...1
Challenges for Energy and Utilities It Leaders ...3
Energy It hiring trends ...5
supply and Demand for Energy It professionals ..7
hot Energy and Utility It skills ...9
Compensation ...11
Footnotes ...13
IT Workforce
snapshot
2013
Worldwide It spending in the energy and utilities industries is expected to reach $155 billion in 2013, a 4.41 percent increase from 2012. spending will be spread across telecom ($52.6 billion), It services ($40.5 billion), software ($16.6 billion) and hardware ($13.6 billion). Increases in It spending are expected to continue with worldwide spending projections passing $160 billion in 2014 and passing $170 billion in 2016. It spending in the energy and utilities industries in north america is expected to reach $66 billion in 2013, a 4.78 percent increase from 2012.
Growth is expected to continue through 2016 with spending expected to reach over $71 billion.1 Fifty-three percent of energy and utilities It leaders anticipate spending on It infrastructure and 50 percent expect It applications services will increase in 2013. Investments in It outsourcing services and It education and training should also see increases, according to 38 percent and 34 percent of It leaders, respectively.2
9%
9%
13%
13%
13%
16%
25%
28%
13%
13%
13%
13%
34%
25%
25%
22%
3%
13%
3%
3%
3%
6%
6%
9%
6%
6%
3%
0%
19%
13%
13%
13%
IT education/training services spending IT outsourcing services spending IT applications services spending IT infrastructure services spending
2013 IT Spend Projections
Increase by more than 10% Increase by 5-10% Increase by up to 5% Stay the same Decrease by up to 5% Decrease by 5-10% Decrease by more than 10% Don't know
IT SpendIng projecTIonS
2012 IT Spend projections
organizations are facing core issues like security threats, legacy
modernization and standardization, and embracing It/ot convergence.
Driving the industry forward in terms of adopting new technologies is a
critical component, and enterprise resource applications providers like sap
and oracle are helping advance the industry in real time,” says troy peaden,
tEKsystems Executive Director of Energy services. “Effectively implementing
these technologies must be a top priority to ensure organizations not only have
effective It systems to support the business but also a secure infrastructure
that protects against cybersecurity threats. Bringing in the right service
providers and the right It talent to ensure these projects are given the best
chance to succeed is essential.
IT SpendIng projecTIonS, cont’d.
challengeS for energy
and UTIlITIeS IT leaderS
Business Increase in IT needs
Risk Management/Legal and Compliance operations
Finance/accounting Marketing/sales
Research and Development purchasing
human Resources
Energy and utilities IT leaders report risk management/legal and compliance, operations and finance/
accounting will have the biggest increase in It needs in 2013. organizations are faced with a number of compliance projects in 2013. For example, the Dodd-Frank Wall street Reform and Consumer protection act could force energy organizations to enable their systems to interface with new trading exchanges. this would require organizations to test, evaluate and potentially upgrade their It infrastructure, software and reporting processes to ensure they are compliant and able to effectively report on their trading and other financial activities.3
challengeS for energy and UTIlITIeS IT leaderS, cont’d.
Biggest challenges
acquiring necessary budgets
attracting, retaining and developing top talent Improving IT performance/efficiency
selecting the right vendors/partners Regulatory compliance
Managing legacy systems
properly aligning It strategy to the business Managing security concerns
obtaining executive buy-in for It projects Customer loyalty
Managing newly deployed systems Mergers and acquisition
Energy and utilities It leaders say that acquiring necessary budgets, attracting, retaining and developing top talent and improving IT performance/efficiency rank as the biggest challenges to their organization meeting its goals and objectives in 2013. selecting the right vendors/partners and regulatory compliance round out the top five challenges.2
These challenges are magnified by the fact that only 10 percent of energy and utility IT leaders are extremely confident that their 2013 IT budget will enable them to strategically support the business’ needs.2
10% 44% 25% 14% 2% 5%
Confidence in IT Budgets
Extremely confident Confident Neutral Unconfident Extremely unconfident Don't know
Confidence in IT Budgets
challengeS for energy and UTIlITIeS IT leaderS, cont’d.
the challenge for energy and utilities organizations is to increase
efficiencies while improving their distribution models. In order to achieve
those efficiencies, they must leverage technology and people to ensure they
are compliant and effectively reporting on various activities such as trading,”
states peaden. “at the same time, security may be the most important area
of investment. the number and frequency of cyber attacks are increasing,
making it even more critical for energy organizations to have the right
systems, security and people in place to protect their own and the nation’s
energy infrastructure
45%
46%
41%
35%
14%
19%
Permanent IT headcount Temporary IT headcount
Expected IT Hiring Change in 2013
Increase Stay the same Decrease
14%
23%
14%
4%
17%
19%
Permanent IT headcount Temporary IT headcount
Expected Percentage Change in IT Headcount in 2013
Increase by more than 10% Increase by 5-10% Increase by up to 5%
expected IT hiring change in 2013
expected percentage change in IT headcount in 2013
IT leaders are prioritizing several initiatives with significant impact on the business. To implement each initiative, It leaders slightly favor a contingent workforce model over a permanent one. Forty-six percent of It leaders say their temporary It headcount will increase in 2013, compared to 45 percent saying their permanent It headcount will increase.2
of those expecting increases in temporary headcount, the majority (27 percent) anticipate temporary headcount increases of 5 percent of more.2
energy and UTIlITIeS
IT hIrIng TrendS
energy and UTIlITIeS IT hIrIng TrendS, cont’d.
the pressure energy organizations are under to upgrade their It
infrastructure and meet regulatory demands is high. the need to alter
their workforce model to a more dynamic contract model will become
increasingly apparent as the baby boomer population begins to retire.
Leveraging a contract model can give organizations the ability to augment
their workforce by hiring specific skills required during modernization efforts
and quickly ramping up or down to achieve the It and business objectives.”
says peaden. “once an initiative is complete, organizations are more likely
to hire permanent skills to maintain operational efficiency and ensure the
systems continue to run smoothly beyond the implementation. the contract
model provides the flexibility required to get a system up and running, but it
also prevents them from getting locked in with skill sets only needed during
certain periods of an implementation.
SUpply and demand for energy
and UTIlITIeS IT profeSSIonalS
-9%
3%
5%
5%
7%
9%
11%
15%
16%
24%
28%
53%
Wholesale Trade Telecommunications Educational Services Manufacturing Government Information Technology Retail Trade Financial Services Transportation Energy and Utilities Healthcare
Percentage Change in IT Job Requisitions 2011-2012 (Demand)
percentage change in IT job requisitions 2011-2012 (demand)
Construction
Demand for IT professionals with energy and utilities specific experience remains high. TEKsystems’
research shows the number of job requisitions for It professionals with energy and utilities experience increased 53 percent from 2011 to 2012. Further, the number of energy and utilities It related job postings has increased more than 70 percent from December 2011 to December 2012.4
SUpply and demand for energy
and UTIlITIeS IT profeSSIonalS, cont.
total energy and utilities employment is
approximately 715,000 people. of that population, there are approximately 30,000 energy It
professionals in the U.s., which account for about 4 percent of the total U.s. energy and utilities workforce. Currently, the pool of It resources with the experience and skills has not kept pace with the strong demand in the energy and utilities industry.
the energy It labor pressure is approximately 0.37 nationwide—meaning there are 0.37 job seekers for every one open energy and utilities It job.4
the gap between demand and supply is likely to widen. the average age of workers in the energy industry is over 50 and the industry estimates that up to half of its current workforce—more than 500,000 workers—will retire within five to 10 years.5 Comparatively, 31 percent of the active energy and utilities It workforce has over 16 years of experience.4
the importance of proactively instituting a workforce planning strategy cannot
be understated. Given today’s competitive forces in the industry and threats to
national security, energy and utilities organizations cannot risk settling for the
B team. Considering how to best attract, develop and retain a players needs to
be at the forefront of all strategic initiatives, as it is a requirement to attain key
business goals,” comments peaden.
hoT energy and UTIlITIeS IT SkIllS
The most in-demand IT skills specific to the energy and utilities industries include It specialists, software engineers, business analysts, project managers and application developers.4 these skills reflect the areas energy IT leaders say will have the biggest impact on their organizations in 2013 which include big data, business intelligence, security and cloud computing. additionally, master data management, business intelligence and security are also high priorities on the list.
Energy IT leaders report finding IT talent possessing analytics (BI, Big Data, etc.), mobile, business analyst skills as the three most difficult types of roles to fill. The remaining top difficult to fill positions are security and project
management jobs.2
IT leaders
analytics (BI, Big Data, etc.) Mobile
Business analysts security
project managers Cloud
Engineers Developers architects .nEt
social media
help/Desktop support
hoT energy and UTIlITIeS IT SkIllS, cont.
there is a war for talent and a limited number of It professionals to go around.
The most difficult to fill positions are skills where the supply of resources is
limited but demand is high, which makes thinking about workforce planning
for the future even more essential,” says peaden. “Conducting a gap analysis
and understanding the local and national It labor market will help identify
your skill gaps and see how competitors are sourcing similar skills so you can
differentiate your company from the competition.
compenSaTIon
The skills identified as experiencing the greatest year-after-year growth are also among the top paying jobs in the energy IT field to date. The best IT professionals in these fields can make $100,000 per year or more.
the annual median salary for these skills is more than $70,000 per year with the exception of computer support specialists, who can still earn around $60,000 per year if among the top 10 percent of computer support specialists.5
Further, 38 percent of energy and utilities IT leaders say the salaries of some of the most difficult to fill positions, like business analysts, are expected to increase by up to 5 percent over the next year.
twenty-three percent of energy and utilities It leaders say that salaries for workers with security and analytics skills will increase by 5 percent or more over the next year.2
IT leaders annual median
Salary
Computer and Information systems managers $114,795
software developers, systems software $95,505
software developers, applications $90,460
Computer systems analysts $90,360
Computer occupations (all other) $86,610
Information security analysts, Web developers and computer network architects $83,550
Computer and mathematical occupations $80,425
Computer programmers $78,400
Database administrators $75,760
network and computer systems administrators $75,495
Computer support specialists $58,335
Footnotes
1 Gartner Forecast: Enterprise It spending by Vertical Industry Market, Worldwide, 2010-2016, november 2012
2 tEKsystems It annual Forecast survey, november 2012 3 Grant thornton, Financial reform: how the Dodd-Frank act
affects the energy industry. Retrieved from http://www.grantthornton.com/staticfiles/GTCom/
Financial%20services/FSandFI%20files/Financial%20 reform/Financial%20reform-energy%20industry-Grant%20 thornton%20LLp-september%202010.pdf
4 CareerBuilder, supply & Demand portal, December 2012 5 tEKsystems It professional perspectives survey,
December 2011
6 2012-2011 Dice salary survey, January 2012
7 U.s. Bureau of Labor statistics, occupational outlook handbook, December 2012
About TEKsystems
®people are at the heart of every successful business initiative.
at tEKsystems, we understand people. Every year we deploy over 80,000 It professionals at 6,000 client sites across north america, Europe and asia. our deep insights into It human capital management enable us to help our clients achieve their business goals—while optimizing their It workforce strategies.
We provide IT staffing solutions, IT talent management expertise and It services to help our clients plan, build and run their
conclUSIon
Energy and utilities organizations are facing challenges from a technology, legislative and workforce perspective. navigating each will be necessary to ensure It and business success. By proactively addressing workforce needs and selecting the right service providers, energy organizations can position themselves for success over the long term.
