Utilities sector faces communications talent exodus at a moment of peak public scrutiny

The Utilities sector is facing a potential mass exodus of strategic communications talent across organisations including suppliers, networks, regulators and trade bodies, at a time when effective public engagement, transparency and trust-building have never been more critical. 

That’s according to new research from specialist recruitment firm Murray McIntosh.

The Strategic Communications Report 2026 reveals unprecedented levels of workforce mobility within Utilities communications teams, with over half (52%) of strategic communications professionals in the sector planning to move roles within the next six months, while almost two-thirds (64%) have interviewed for a new position in the past year.

The findings signal a sector under growing strain, as communications professionals grapple with rising regulatory complexity, sustainability pressures and heightened public and media scrutiny. With customer trust, affordability, environmental performance and resilience firmly in the spotlight, the loss of experienced communications talent risks further weakening already strained relationships between Utilities providers and the public.

Evolving skills landscape placing further strain on comms teams

At the same time, skills expectations within communications roles are evolving rapidly. Beyond core communications skills, demand is rising sharply for technical capabilities, including data literacy, AI, data science and coding. This reflects the Utility sector’s increasing reliance on digital transformation, predictive analytics and data-driven decision-making to manage complex infrastructure, customer expectations and regulatory obligations. Notably, 82% of communications professionals believe AI has already impacted, or will imminently impact, their role, the highest level recorded across all industries surveyed.

Lauren Maddocks, Associate Director, Policy and Public Affairs at Murray McIntosh, told That's Business: “Utilities organisations are operating in one of the most scrutinised environments of any sector, yet they are at real risk of losing the very communications talent needed to navigate that scrutiny. 

"When public trust is fragile, and expectations around transparency, sustainability and accountability are rising, experienced communications professionals aren’t a ‘nice to have’, they are fundamentally critical.

“Firms that don’t address the upcoming exodus in time and effectively pipeline communications professionals risk a revolving door of talent at precisely the wrong time. At a time when public trust in Utilities is already fragile, employers that fail to recognise just how crucial communications talent pipelining is will find themselves exposed, not just to skills shortages, but perhaps more importantly to reputational and operational risk.”

You can read the report here https://www.murraymcintosh.com/downloadable-content/strategic-communications-salary-labour-report

Utilities adopt new initiatives to minimise outages in the face of extreme weather events – Wi-SUN Alliance research

Advanced weather prediction tools, renewable energy integration, and grid modernisation are some of the key initiatives that are currently being undertaken by utilities to ensure network resilience in the face of power outages caused by extreme weather events and climate-related disasters. 

This is according to new research published by Wi-SUN Alliance, a global association of leading companies that specifies open standards-based, interoperable technology solutions for smart utilities, smart cities and other IoT and IIoT wireless communication applications.

The research among senior professionals in the utilities and power sectors highlights the role of new tools and technologies to help improve resilience and outage recovery times as weather events and environmental disasters become commonplace. 

According to the US Department of Energy, extreme weather conditions, from heatwaves to arctic vortexes, have doubled power outages in the US over the past 20 years. From California to New Jersey, states are experiencing significant weather-related utility disruption, making it more of a challenge to meet the needs of customers in traditional ways.

Key survey findings:

• Advanced weather prediction (41%) tops the list of initiatives that will ensure better network resilience for utilities, followed by renewable energy integration (41%), grid modernisation and microgrids (39%), and disaster response and recovery plans (34%).

• Respondents are adopting new approaches to improve outage recovery times through advanced networking, including predictive maintenance analytics (40%), smart grid technologies (39%), and enhanced communications (34%), as well as use of drones and robotic devices to inspect assets (31%).

• Utilities recognise opportunities to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) technologies as part their network infrastructure, with energy consumption forecasting (37%), automated fault detection (33%), and grid optimisation (31%) as viable use cases.

“Extreme weather events are fast evolving from a rare occurrence to something that should be built into the risk profile of any utility company,” comments Phil Beecher, President and CEO of Wi-SUN Alliance.

“The emergence of smart grids, microgrids and other technologies, like predictive maintenance and fault finding, offers a way of controlling costs while increasing resilience and stability to help mitigate the impact of outages. 

"But technologies like this are only as good as the underlying communications network to provide reliable and secure delivery of the data needed to deliver a true smart grid. Built on open industry standards, Wi-SUN FAN wireless mesh networking offers utilities and power companies more choice in what they do – both today and in the future.”

The research also shows cybersecurity investment is a priority for utilities looking to enhance interoperability and connectivity for large-scale IoT applications in smart utility and smart city projects. 

Asked to list their top strategic initiatives for the next five years, 41% of respondents cited security enhancement as their number one choice, reflecting concerns highlighted in Wi-SUN’s global Journey to IoT Maturity report published in 2022, where security and data privacy were critical considerations for utilities and organisations adopting IoT solutions.

Customer-centric services (40%), renewable energy integration (37%), building infrastructure resilience (32%), and IoT integration and data analytics (23%) are also as integral to respondents’ five-year plans.

Jeff Scheb, Director of Solutions and Systems Architecture at Landis+Gyr, a Wi-SUN Promoter member, says: “Enhancing cybersecurity across utility networks continues to be a key priority for future investment. 

"That security focus extends from the customer grid-edge to the Field Area Network, to the substation, and ultimately to the data centre. An authentic layered approach to security is a must. While Wi-SUN FAN is often thought about in terms of interoperability, it also has robust security mechanisms built in, based on widely adopted industry standards. Adoption of Wi-SUN should be seen as one layer in the overall security posture of a wide-scale IoT network.”

The research is being announced at DistribuTECH 2024, the leading transmission and distribution event for the utility and power sectors, where Wi-SUN Alliance is exhibiting on booth #1957.

http://www.wi-sun.org.