An analysis of hiring in the electrical industry to better understand the sector's digital transformation

An analysis of hiring in the electrical industry to better understand the sector’s digital transformation

13 août 2021

Artificial intelligence is increasingly present in many sectors where it is used to automate certain processes or to help humans do them better. This is also the case in the electricity sector for which GlobalData has compiled several statistical figures to better visualize the arrival of AI in this industry. Overall, these results show that the role of AI in these companies has increased in recent months and that they want to expand their capabilities.

A survey that looks at hiring to better understand industry issues

Data analytics and consulting firm, GlobalData, clarified the approach it has taken to synthesize the results it offers:

“GlobalData’s thematic approach to sector activity seeks to aggregate key company information by topic to see which companies are best placed to overcome disruptions in their sectors. By tracking them through job postings, it allows us to see which companies are leading the way on specific issues and which are dragging their feet – and more importantly where the market is expanding and contracting.”

Here, in this case, GlobalData focused on the power sector.

The first figure highlighted by the consultancy is for hiring for artificial intelligence positions in operations, processes and technology in the power industry. The number of newly advertised positions totaled 1,471 in the first quarter of 2021. This is up from 861 in Q4 2020 and 775 in Q3 2020, as shown in this chart:

Towards a shift to Industry 4.0 in the electrical sector with an increase in hiring

The study then looked at hiring areas by asking in which region of the world, companies in the electrical sector were hiring for AI. Looking at the key operations and technology companies in the energy sector tracked by GlobalData, the US is currently seeing the most AI job openings. Last quarter, the country recorded 357 offers, compared to 253 in Q4 2020 and 328 in Q3 2020.

When it comes to cities, Pune, India, had the most AI job openings in Q1 2021 with 50 positions, followed by Bengaluru, also in India with 43, and Slovakia’s capital Bratislava with 26. Below, find a map of the most active areas in the AI job market for the power sector:

Finally, GlobalData looked at the growth in the number of AI jobs in electricity-related companies. A country in the European Union, namely Romania, has the largest growth going from 6 AI job openings in Q4 2020, to 233 at the end of Q1 2021. Equally great growth can be found in India, with 213 new jobs. Find below the graph showing the top 10 countries in terms of increase of job offers around AI in the electrical industry: