2022 energy, resources and industrials industry outlooks
Annual perspectives on sector trends
Our industry outlook collection, covering oil, gas, and chemicals; power, utilities, and renewables; and industrial products and construction, evaluates sector landscapes and can help executives better plan for success and unforeseen challenges.
Looking ahead at the trends for 2022 with cautious optimism
As 2021 comes to a close, we are seeing optimism and expectations for growth across the energy and industrials sector, following the downturn in 2020. But this optimistic outlook is also marked by caution, as labour shortages, supply chain disruptions, and high costs continue to challenge companies across the industrial and energy sectors.
Even as people return to work, there are challenges regarding workforce shortages: the first in terms of open positions going unfilled, and the second in terms of a growing skills gap as new technologies are incorporated into the workplace. In the oil and gas industry, more than 100,000 jobs were lost in 2020, and 50% of those positions remain open.[1] In manufacturing, job openings hover near all-time highs at over 800,000.[2] And six in ten engineering and construction companies report suffering from workforce shortages.[3] Compounding this shortage is the growing need for a workforce increasingly skilled in programming, data analytics, and data science. Furthermore, the need for these new skill sets places industrial and energy companies in competition with technology and other industries for this talent.
Pervasive supply chain challenges are another pressure point across these industries as 2021 concludes. Companies in the renewables industry are seeing rising costs for many renewables components for the first time in several years due to raw materials shortages, labour shortages, and increased shipping rates. The E&C industry and manufacturing companies are also feeling the pain of delays resulting from these factors. As a result, growing attention is being paid to building domestic supply chains and manufacturing capabilities, and policies such as the recently approved Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 may advance these efforts. These pain points may become less acute in the coming months, and Deloitte’s 2022 outlooks detail the inflection points that could help determine the trajectory across the energy and industrial sectors.
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Endnotes
[1]Deloitte, “The future of work in oil, gas and chemicals,” October 2020.
[2]Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job opening and labor turnover survey, accessed October 12, 2021.
[3]Associated General Contractors of America, 2021 Workforce Survey Analysis, accessed September 13, 2021; Larry Stewart, “Cause of More Construction Job Losses in August More Serious than COVID-19 Delta?” For Construction Pros, September 3, 2021, accessed September 13, 2021.
