When Quynh Cottrell moved from Vietnam to Australia 10 years ago with a bachelor's degree in social services, she struggled to find meaningful work.
Although bouncing between hospitality and farming jobs paid the bills, it did not provide the stability or satisfaction the then-26-year-old was seeking.
I'm not saying the jobs were bad, I learnt a lot … but it wasn't a good use of my knowledge and skills, Ms Cottrell said.
Determined to build a better life for herself and her two daughters, Ms Cottrell eventually enrolled in a community services course at TAFE.
Following a decade of juggling priorities and overcoming steep cultural learning curves, the now 36-year-old landed a job at the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local organisation in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong.
Despite having a bachelor's degree in social services, Quynh Cottrell struggled to gain meaningful employment.(ABC Gippsland: Danielle Kutchel)
Now that I have a job I love, I feel like a different person … I am more active and creative, and I am using my energy to be useful, she said.
As Australia transitions to renewable energy, it is immigrants like Ms Cottrell who could benefit from the growing number of employment opportunities, according to The Next Economy's Jacqui Bell.
The organisation is working with government and industry leaders to build climate-safe and socially just economies.
We hope that individuals who are looking for meaningful work, or that may be in a job that doesn't align with their values, may see themselves in the clean energy workforce, Ms Bell said.
The Next Economy provided a report exclusively to the ABC outlining the opportunity Australia has to create an inclusive and diverse clean energy workforce.
Jacqui Bell's work aims to build regional economies that are climate safe and socially just.(Supplied: The Next Economy)
It's important to understand some of the limitations and barriers that our qualification recognition systems put in place, Ms Bell said.
It means we're missing out on being able to engage really skilled workers from other countries who have the qualifications that we need.
Race to net zero
Australia is pushing to reach 82 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030 and become net zero by 2050.
As coal-fired power stations are switched off in favour of solar and wind, the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) estimates the country will need about six times more renewable energy infrastructure than it currently has — including over 10,000 kilometres of new transmission lines.
Star of the South, off the south coast of Gippsland, is Australia's most advanced off-shore wind project.(Supplied: Star of the South)
To achieve this huge feat, up to 59,000 additional workers will be required in the clean energy sector every year.
That is more than 200,000 people between now and 2030.
Australia really is firmly in the implementation phase of our transition to net zero, Ms Bell said.
With this implementation, we're really seeing a larger need for a bigger and more skilled workforce.
According to The Next Economy's report, the clean energy workforce shortage presents a long-overdue opportunity for private and public industry across Australia to rethink their recruitment processes.
But the benefits stretch well beyond providing meaningful employment to marginalised people.
Research shows diversity and inclusion in a workplace can play a big part in boosting innovation and productivity, while also ensuring key projects are completed on time and on budget.
We know that front of mind of employers is how to get that many people that quickly, not to mention how to do that in a way that is equitable and inclusive, Ms Bell said.
But our research shows more diverse teams provide more diverse views in meeting rooms, and better project outcomes.
A new attitude
It's not just immigrants who could benefit from a rethink of how Australian businesses recruit employees.
People with disability, people who were formally incarcerated, disadvantaged youth, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, women and Indigenous Australians are all under-represented in the clean energy workforce.
For instance, while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders account for 3.2 per cent of the Australian population, the report found that just 1.9 per cent of Indigenous Australians work within the clean energy space.
Similarly, although 50.7 per cent of Australians identified as female in the last census, just 39 per cent of Australia's clean energy workforce is women.
Karina Davis is the CEO of not-for-profit orgnanisation Jobsbank.(ABC Gippsland: William Howard)
Jobsbank is an independent not-for-profit designed to help businesses increase employer inclusivity and fill workforce shortages.
Its chief executive Karina Davis said businesses within the clean energy sector needed to rethink how they went about their recruitment processes to attract employees and reduce workforce shortages.
It is really important to think about how we structure employment, to access parts of communities that aren't normally accessed, Ms Davis said.
People from diverse backgrounds may be deeply skilled, but they don't respond to a Seek ad, or they don't know people who can get them in the door.
Ms Davis believed the onus was on business leaders to go out into communities and find the people with the required skill sets.
It's about breaking up some of those processes that are often really intimidating … such as going in for an interview to three people across the other side of the desk, she said.
Ms Davis said the research had shown time and time again just how important diversity was within companies.
If you have a diverse workforce, there's greater productivity, there's greater retention, much less attrition, and greater problem solving, she said.
All of those sorts of things come with a diverse workforce, because of the different perspectives that are brought in.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-09/diversity-required-to-fill-clean-energy-workforce-shortages/105010460
