At a time of major change in the energy industry, including the drive to Net Zero, the survey results will allow Prospect to have a better understanding of our members’ priorities, and will help us to better represent our members in discussions with employers and regulators.

For the purpose of the survey, the energy sector was divided into three constituent parts, the electricity supply, electricity networks and nuclear. Here is a snapshot of the main survey findings.

Electricity Supply

 

Vacancies & staffing levels

• Almost 4-in-10 (38%) say there are vacancies in their team; 40% of those say there are 3 or more current vacancies
• A lack of skilled applicants and the company not trying to fill posts are the most common reasons cited for persistent vacancies
• Less than half of respondents (47%) say their teams are adequately staffed for safe working
• Roughly 75% report turnover in their team in the last year; only 24% say all departing people have been replaced

Skills & training

• Roughly 1-in-6 (17%) respondents say their current job doesn’t make full use of their skills or knowledge
• Almost half (47%) say they are asked to perform work they are not properly trained to do either ‘sometimes’, ‘often’ or ‘very often’
• Almost 1-in-5 (18%) believe apprentices/trainees are sometimes set to work without being properly trained
• 55% say company does not properly train people when new technology/equipment is introduced
• 83% say that keeping up to date with latest knowledge and techniques is very important in their job; but only 29% say employer provides adequate training to do so

Workload & stress

• Just under half (47%) say they do overtime in a typical week; for those who do overtime, median amount is 5 hours
• 30% say they do standby hours in a typical week; median of 10 hours
• Median total hours worked per week 40.5; 20% of respondents say they do 50+ hours in a typical week, 7% say 60+ hours
• 66% describe typical workload as ‘heavy’ or ‘extremely heavy’; majority (63%) say they are ‘sometimes’, ‘often’, or ‘very often’ pressured to work long hours
• More than 1-in-5 (22%) say they feel overwhelmed at work ‘every day’ or ‘most of the time’; 69% feel overwhelmed at work ‘some of the time’, ‘most of the time’, or ‘every day’
• Half of respondents say typical daily work pace is very intensive and they frequently have to skip rest breaks
• More than 1-in-5 (22%) say there have been times in the last 12 months when they have been too tired to work; 61% of those respondents say they did not feel comfortable telling employer

Workplace culture

• 4-in-10 respondents (39%) describe workplace morale as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’; reasons given include workload, management culture, low staff numbers, and H&S during COVID-19
• 1-in-three (33%) respondents disagree that senior management always treat staff with respect
• 21% of respondents report experiencing bullying or harassment; 35% have witnessed colleagues being bullied or harassed

Change management

• 59% say there have been significant changes to work in the last year; half of respondents (49%) rate engagement on change as 1 or 2 out of 5 (5 is best)
• Only 16% say staff were engaged on change and staff input had an impact; 53% say staff were given no chance to provide input on changes

Electricity Networks

 

Vacancies & staffing levels

• More than 1-in-3 (36%) say there are vacancies in their team; 39% of those say there are 3 or more current vacancies
• A lack of skilled applicants and the company not trying to fill posts are the most common reasons cited for persistent vacancies
• Only 41% of respondents say their team is adequately staffed for safe working
• Almost 75% report turnover in their team in the last year; only 22% say all departing people have been replaced

Skills & training

• Close to 1-in-5 (18%) of respondents say their current job doesn’t make full use of their skills/knowledge
• Half of respondents say they are asked to perform work they are not properly trained to do either ‘sometimes’, ‘often’ or ‘very often’
• Almost 1-in-4 (23%) are not confident that apprentices/trainees are properly trained before being set to work
• Close to two-thirds (62%) say company does not properly train people when new technology/equipment is introduced
• 85% say keeping up to date with latest knowledge and techniques is very important in their job; but only 27% say the employer provides adequate training to do so

Workload & stress

• Around half (51%) say they do overtime in a typical week; for those who do overtime, median amount is 5 hours
• 37% say they do standby hours in a typical week; median of 12 hours
• Median total hours worked per week 42; 20% of respondents say they do 50+ hours in a typical week, 7% say 60+ hours
• 67% describe typical workload as ‘heavy’ or ‘extremely heavy’; majority (63%) say they are ‘sometimes’, ‘often’, or ‘very often’ pressured to work long hours
• Almost 1-in-4 (23%) say they feel overwhelmed at work ‘every day’ or ‘most of the time’; 70% feel overwhelmed at work ‘some of the time’, ‘most of the time’, or ‘every day’
• Half of respondents (53%) say typical daily work pace is very intensive and they frequently have to skip rest breaks
• 25% say there have been times in the last 12 months when they have been too tired to work; 61% of those respondents say they did not feel comfortable telling their employer

Workplace culture

• 40% describe workplace morale as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’; reasons given include workload, management culture, low staff numbers, and H&S during COVID-19
• More than 1-in-3 (37%) respondents disagree that senior management always treat staff with respect
• 19% of respondents report experiencing bullying or harassment; 34% have witnessed colleagues being bullied or harassed

Change management

• 58% say there have been significant changes to work in the last year; half of respondents (53%) rate engagement on change as 1 or 2 out of 5 (5 is best)
• Only 12% say staff were engaged on change and staff input had an impact; 57% say staff were given no chance to provide input on changes

Nuclear

 

Vacancies & staffing levels

• Almost half (48%) say there are vacancies in their team; 54% of those say there are 3 or more current vacancies, 34% say 5+ vacancies
• A lack of skilled applicants and salary/benefits being too low are the most common reasons cited for persistent vacancies
• More than a third (38%) say their team isn’t adequately staffed for safe working, or aren’t sure if it is
• 69% report turnover in their team in the last year; only 15% say all departing people have been replaced

Skills & training

• Most respondents feel their job makes full use of their skills and knowledge; but, roughly 1-in-6 (16%) respondents say their current job doesn’t do so
• Almost 4-in-10 (38%) say they are asked to perform work they are not properly trained to do either ‘sometimes’, ‘often’ or ‘very often’
• Most respondents are confident that apprentices/trainees are properly trained before being set to work; but, more than a third (36%) think apprentices/trainees are sometimes given work tasks which they are not trained for
• Roughly 4-in-10 (39%) say their company does not properly train people when new technology/equipment is introduced
• 84% say keeping up to date with latest knowledge and techniques is very important in their job; but less than half (42%) think employer provides adequate training to do so
• 70% of respondents say they have had training in the last 12 months

Workload & stress

• Only small proportion of respondents (18%) report doing paid overtime in a typical week; for those who do overtime, median amount is 3 hours
• 10% say they do standby hours in a typical week; median of 4 hours
• Median total hours worked per week is 38 hours; only 4% of respondents say they do 50+ hours in a typical week
• Just over half (53%) describe typical workload as ‘heavy’ or ‘extremely heavy’; 45% say they are ‘sometimes’, ‘often’, or ‘very often’ pressured to work long hours
• 60% of respondents say they feel overwhelmed at work ‘some of the time’, ‘most of the time’, or ‘every day’
• More than a third of respondents (35%) say typical daily work pace is very intensive and they frequently have to skip rest breaks

Workplace culture

• Almost a quarter of respondents (23%) describe workplace morale as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’; top reasons given include progression/performance management, pay, company restructuring
• A fifth of respondents disagree that senior management always treat staff with respect
• More than a fifth of respondents (22%) report experiencing bullying or harassment; 33% have witnessed colleagues being bullied or harassed

Change management

• 64% say there have been significant changes to work in the last year; majority (71%) say company prepared staff for changes well (rated preparations as 3 or more out of 5)
• However, less than half of respondents (45%) say they had a chance to provide feedback on changes, and only 27% said their feedback had an impact on proposals