The Energy Hiring Playbook Has Changed. Is Your 2027 Workforce Plan Ready?

A Conversation with Ray Lamonica, Director of the FootBridge Company Energy Division

As we enter the final quarter of 2026, energy companies are making workforce decisions that will shape projects and outages well into 2027. For many, the 2027 workforce plan is already taking shape. With 25+ years of industry experience and thousands of specialized searches conducted each year, FootBridge has a clear view of what companies face as they build the teams those projects will require. The talent is out there, but the conditions for finding, attracting, and securing it have changed. 

Ray LaMonica, Director of the Energy Division at FootBridge, works directly with clients facing these decisions, so we asked him to share what he’s seeing in the market and what energy companies should consider now as they prepare for 2027.

1. The job requirements can shrink your talent pool

Having the right skill set doesn’t necessarily make someone available for the job. For energy projects, requirements around travel and on-site work can quickly narrow the pool of candidates willing to consider an assignment.

Ray points to schedulers as a good example. These roles have traditionally been performed on-site, where schedulers can interact with the project team, walk the job and see progress firsthand. While some scheduling work can be done remotely, many clients still want these professionals on-site.

The challenge is finding experienced schedulers willing to make that commitment. Since the shift toward remote work during the pandemic, Ray has seen more candidates become reluctant to take full-time on-site assignments, particularly when significant travel is involved.

Ray’s advice: Define the non-negotiables early. If a position must be on-site, requires frequent travel, or has other conditions that could limit candidate interest, make those expectations part of the recruiting strategy from the start. Doing so helps recruiters focus on candidates who can do the job and are willing to accept the conditions that come with it.

2. You’re competing for talent across projects, not just companies

Energy companies aren’t recruiting in isolation. The same experienced professionals may be needed across multiple projects, facilities, and even adjacent industries simultaneously. Ray points to data center development as one example. Infrastructure improvements and expansion projects can increase demand for many of the same technical skill sets. And, “A lot of companies are looking for the same people,” Ray says.

FootBridge sees that competition directly in candidate conversations. According to Ray, experienced professionals frequently have multiple opportunities in front of them, and sometimes multiple offers. Pay is part of the decision-making process, but so are travel requirements, work schedules, hours, location, project length, and the overall structure of the assignment. A company may find the right person technically but still lose that candidate because another project offers a better fit for them.

Ray’s advice: Before going to market, understand what you can and cannot change. If the location and schedule are fixed, determine whether there is flexibility elsewhere. If the rate is firm, other aspects of the assignment may carry more weight. The goal is to understand how your opportunity will compete for the people you actually need.

3. Every extra day creates another opportunity to lose the candidate

When asked what companies could do differently during the hiring process, Ray’s answer was immediate:

“Move faster. Every day that goes by, there’s another chance that another project pops up and the individual gets called elsewhere.”

Ray’s advice:

Before interviewing, know:

• Who needs to meet the candidate?
• Who can approve the rate?
• How quickly can feedback be provided?
• What are you prepared to offer?

Speed starts before the interview. Once those decisions have been made internally, the hiring team is better positioned to act when the right person is identified.

4. The right candidate may not be the exact candidate described on paper

When the available talent pool is already limited, an overly rigid list of requirements can make a difficult search even harder. Therefore, Ray says that hiring teams should distinguish between experience that is truly essential and experience that can transfer from another project, facility, or related environment.

He emphasizes that job titles alone don’t always tell that story. A candidate may not use the exact terminology from the job description in their résumé, even if they have worked in environments that require many of the same skills. For example, instead of asking only whether someone held an exact title, consider the work they performed, the type of facility or project they supported, the systems they worked with, and the responsibilities they held.

Ray’s advice: 

Identify your must-haves early on.  Doing so gives recruiters more room to identify candidates whose experience translates to the work without compromising the qualifications the project truly requires.

5. The hiring model should fit the work

Ray is also seeing companies consider contract staffing even when they have traditionally focused on direct hiring.

“I believe they are doing it out of necessity,” he says. “They need to keep their options open and consider all avenues of hiring.”

Contract staffing may make sense for an urgent need, a project with a defined timeline, an outage, or an assignment at a remote jobsite. A direct-hire approach may make more sense when the need is permanent, and the position is intended to remain part of the organization beyond a particular project. An 18-month project assignment and a long-term permanent position don’t necessarily call for the same recruiting strategy.

Ray’s advice: 

Start with the work, then determine the hiring model. Keeping both contract and direct-hire options available gives hiring teams another lever to use when the project, timeline, or available talent makes one approach more practical than the other.

6. A specialized talent pool changes the search

The first five considerations all lead to a larger question: How do you find people who meet the technical requirements and the realities of the assignment?

A résumé can tell you whether someone has experience in scheduling, commissioning, project controls, engineering, or construction. It usually won’t tell you whether that person is willing to travel to a jobsite, take an on-site assignment, work the required schedule, accept the project duration, or consider another contract right now.

That’s where specialization matters.

FootBridge recruiters have spent years working with professionals across energy and other technical industries. Those relationships often continue from one project to the next, giving our recruiters knowledge that goes beyond what appears in a candidate database.

Ray describes it this way: “We maintain a network of people specific to the industry and subject matter experts who are willing to travel.”

Over time, recruiters learn the environments people have worked in, the assignments they’ve taken, whether they’re open to travel, and the kinds of opportunities they may consider next. 

Ray’s advice: 

Instead of identifying everyone who could technically perform the job and then determining whether the assignment works for them, working with a specialized recruiter can focus more quickly on professionals whose experience, availability, and preferences align with the project.

And because those relationships have been built over time, FootBridge isn’t introducing itself to the talent market every time a new need comes in. We’re going back to a network we know—and that knows us.

7. Don’t wait until the need is urgent to start recruiting

The more specific the requirements, the more valuable time becomes. For clients looking at workforce needs over the next six to 12 months, Ray’s advice is straightforward:

Start planning now.

“Plan ahead for roles by identifying upcoming project and outage needs early, so we have time to find the right talent before the need becomes urgent,” he says.

Earlier conversations give recruiters time to

• Assess talent
• Identify requirements that could complicate the search
• Understand candidate wants
• Establish realistic expectations before a project deadline starts driving decisions.

Put your 2027 workforce plan to the test

As you map out upcoming projects, outages, and workforce needs, three questions can help identify where recruiting challenges may emerge:

• How many qualified professionals are realistically suited to the assignment’s conditions?
• Will those people be available when you need them?
• Will your opportunity compete with the alternatives they’re likely to have?

Those questions are difficult to answer based on résumés alone.

For more than 25 years, FootBridge has specialized in recruiting for energy and other technical industries. Combined with the thousands of specialized searches we conduct each year, that experience gives our team visibility into both sides of the hiring equation: what companies need and what experienced professionals seek in their next assignment.

The earlier we understand what’s ahead, the more time we have to identify potential constraints, reach the right talent, and help you build a recruiting strategy around the realities of the market.

Have an upcoming project, outage, or workforce need? Talk to the FootBridge Energy team early. The sooner we understand what’s ahead, the more time we have to identify the people you’ll need to make it happen.