Why Europe’s Electrical Sector Is Facing a Training Crunch

Installers across Europe are feeling the heat. According to the European Electrical Installation Monitor Q1-2025, the pressure to train is mounting fast. Here are the three forces behind the upskill jump.

The Experience Gap Is Growing

In the Q1 2025 report, 59% of installers reported labour shortages, up from 55% a year earlier. In the Netherlands, Poland and Spain, the figures go above 70%, and the findings described shortages already affecting capacity on the ground. Why? A large portion of experienced professionals is nearing retirement, and fewer younger workers are entering the trade – often with limited skills. The direction is clear: without a new generation of trained, tech-savvy installers, the industry faces a skills gap.

Product Familiarity Drives Loyalty

As tool performance and product specs converge, what truly sets brands apart is the installer’s comfort with them. Because they tend to stick to what they know and what they’ve been trained on. So if comfort comes from familiarity, and familiarity is built through training… the path forward is clear. Manufacturers recognize training both as education and a way to build long-term customer relationships.

Electrification is Redefining the Worksite

Electrification is expanding the work involved in buildings. From EV chargers to solar panels to smart lighting, buildings are adopting complex electrical systems faster than ever. Heating is also shifting towards more electric solutions, including heat pumps. Professionals are now expected to handle not just cabling and sockets, but sophisticated energy management systems and connected lighting – and that means catching up. Not once or twice… constantly.

Where Europe Stands: Training by the Numbers

The Q1 2025 research reports training participation in 2024 across the continent, with notable differences between countries:

• The Netherlands leads the pack with 93% of installers participating in training programs
• The UK follows closely at 91%, with high reliance on internally organized sessions
• Germany saw a major shift, jumping from 55% in 2023 to 90% in 2024
• Spain and Poland report strong participation rates at 88% and 85%, respectively.
• Belgium reports participation of 72%
• France is the clear outlier, with only 65% of installers taking part in any form of training, despite a relatively stable rate year-over-year

Overall, 84% of European installers reported attending training in 2024, with the average professional participating in 11 sessions annually, split between online and face-to-face formats. So, the message is consistent: staying trained is now a core part of being an installer.

What installers need to learn, and who provides it

Our May 2025 training overview adds detail on topics, providers and access. Training topics across Europe are driven by clear business needs:

• New regulations – because staying compliant is a must
• Installation practices – especially as systems grow more integrated
• New products and innovations – because the pace of change is relentless

This is where product training often comes in – whether it’s from a manufacturer, an industry body or a wholesale partner. In the UK, for instance, internal company training is common. In Germany, wholesalers take the lead, while in France and Spain manufacturers are the primary source.

Bigger companies were more likely to invest in training: the May 2025 overview reported that 90% of large installers had undergone training recently, compared with 71% of smaller ones.

Certification and purchase decisions

Half of the surveyed professionals are interested in certification, half are not. Enthusiasm is strongest in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, lowest in Spain. As for whether training impacts purchase decisions? 55% say yes, but this varies across the board – a quarter of installers in Belgium, France or Germany are more likely to say training doesn’t affect what they buy at all.

The purchase figures describe installers’ reported views; they do not measure how much additional business a training programme generates.

Format and frequency: the 2023 findings

The November 2023 training article provides an earlier view of participation, training frequency and preferred formats. These results belong to that research period and should not be substituted for the 2024 participation figures above.

The results clearly show that training is important in the installation sector. On average, about eight out of ten installers report attending training. That share varies somewhat per country, however. With 55%, Germany shows the lowest share of installers who follow training. In the UK, on the other hand, pretty much all installers follow training.

Participation only shows whether installers in certain countries follow training, not how many trainings they follow. Looking at the number of training installers that follow on average, a rather large difference appears. For five countries, the number of trainings per year varies from four in Germany to seven in Belgium.

However, the amount of training followed by installers in the other two countries is much larger. The average number of training is 16 in the Netherlands and a whopping 18 in the UK. Besides the popularity or sheer necessity of training, this also indicates that there is a rich offer of training to follow in these countries. 

In all countries, there is only a small minority of installers who prefer to follow training online. And except in the UK, a vast majority show a preference for face-to-face training. In the UK a majority of 57% of installers report preferring both, depending on the topic of the training.

It has to be said though, that in the larger countries, like Germany, Poland, Spain and France, the share of installers that prefer both online and face-to-face, depending on the topic, is quite large as well; on average, around one-third of all installers. It is possible that if a topic does not necessarily require hands-on training, some installers would prefer online training over travelling long distances to training locations. 

The topic makes a difference in the way installers prefer to train, so which topics do the installers prefer? The answers to this question vary widely per country, showing the importance of focusing on the peculiarities of the local markets. One general topic that appears in the top 3 topics of installers in all countries except Spain is training on new regulations.  

When training fits installers’ schedules: the 2021 findings

Even when installers are willing to invest time in training, time may not be available in their busy schedules. The Q2 2021 European Electrical Installation Monitor asked installers in seven countries about their preferred time of year for training.

The findings showed a clear preference for training in the wintertime, at the start of the year. The seasonal comparison did not include installers who had no preference for a certain time of year. Even in countries where preferences seemed less strong, like Spain or the UK, winter was more preferred for training than other seasons.

It is just as important to know when installers do not want training as when they do want training. Although there were differences between countries, May, June, July and August were clearly months that were less preferred by electrical installers for training.

These are historical scheduling preferences. For a new programme, use them as a starting point and check that the timing still fits the installers you want to reach.

Conclusion: Training Is No Longer Optional

For the full breakdown of the European market, see our Electrical Installation Monitor Q1-2025.