Why Experience Still Matters in a Changing Gas Industry

The gas industry has never stood still.

Over the decades, engineers and managers have adapted to new technologies, new regulations, changing customer expectations and evolving safety standards. Today, the pace of change feels faster than ever. Conversations about hydrogen, net zero, digitalisation, smart networks and low-carbon heating dominate industry events and trade publications. At the same time, organisations are investing heavily in data, compliance systems and new ways of working.

Against this backdrop, it is easy to assume that technical innovation is the industry's most valuable asset.

Yet speak to almost any experienced gas professional and they will tell you a different story.

Technology matters. Innovation matters. Training matters.

But experience still matters too.

In many ways, it matters more than ever.

The gas industry remains a safety-critical environment where decisions have real-world consequences. While systems, software and processes can support decision-making, there is still no substitute for the judgement that comes from years of practical experience.

An experienced engineer can often recognise a problem long before it appears on a report. A seasoned manager can identify operational risks that are invisible on a spreadsheet. A mentor can help a younger colleague avoid mistakes that only become obvious after years in the field.

Those skills are difficult to measure, but they are enormously valuable.

Experience is not simply about the number of years someone has spent in the industry. It is about the knowledge gained from solving problems, dealing with unexpected situations, managing difficult projects and making decisions when there is no obvious answer.

Every experienced professional carries lessons that cannot be learned in a classroom.

Many of those lessons have been gained through situations that were challenging at the time: equipment failures, emergency call-outs, compliance issues, contractor disputes, customer complaints or major operational incidents. While nobody welcomes those situations, they often become the moments that shape judgement and professional confidence.

That judgement is becoming increasingly important as the industry faces significant workforce change.

Across the utilities sector, a large proportion of experienced professionals are approaching retirement. At the same time, employers are working hard to attract new entrants into engineering, operations and management roles. This creates an important challenge for the industry: how do we ensure valuable knowledge is passed on before it leaves with the people who have accumulated it?

The answer is not to resist change.

The industry needs new talent, new technologies and new ways of working. However, it also needs to recognise the importance of knowledge transfer.

Some of the most successful organisations are those that create opportunities for experienced professionals to share what they know. Mentoring schemes, graduate programmes, apprenticeships and professional development initiatives all play an important role in ensuring valuable expertise is not lost.

For younger professionals, this presents a significant opportunity.

The most successful engineers of the future are unlikely to be those who focus only on technical qualifications. They will be the people who actively seek out experienced colleagues, ask questions and learn from those who have spent years navigating the realities of the industry.

The gas sector is changing, but many of the core challenges remain remarkably familiar. Safety, risk management, customer service, operational performance and regulatory compliance are still at the heart of the profession. Technology may change how these challenges are managed, but it does not remove the need for sound judgement.

This is particularly true for those moving into leadership positions.

Many organisations are looking for the next generation of supervisors, managers and technical leaders. Technical competence remains essential, but leadership requires something more. Managing people, balancing competing priorities, making difficult decisions and taking responsibility for outcomes are skills that often develop through experience rather than formal training alone.

That is why experienced professionals remain so valuable.

They provide context.

They provide perspective.

And they often provide the calm decision-making that organisations rely on when things do not go according to plan.

At the same time, experience alone is no longer enough.

The most respected professionals in today's gas industry are often those who combine practical experience with a commitment to ongoing development. They recognise that learning does not stop after achieving a qualification or reaching a management position. Instead, they continue to develop their knowledge throughout their careers.

Professional development plays an important role in this process.

For many gas engineers and managers, organisations such as iGEM provide a way to build on experience and gain formal recognition for the skills they have developed over many years. Through professional development, mentoring and routes towards Engineering Council registration, experienced professionals can demonstrate their competence and commitment in a way that is recognised across the wider engineering community.

Professional registration as EngTech, IEng or CEng does not replace experience. Rather, it helps validate it.

It provides a framework for recognising the knowledge, judgement and responsibility that professionals have accumulated throughout their careers. For those looking to move into senior technical, management or consultancy roles, this recognition can be an important step forward.

Perhaps most importantly, it helps ensure that experience is not seen as something belonging only to the past.

The future of the gas industry will depend on a combination of innovation and expertise. New technologies will continue to emerge. Regulations will evolve. Customer expectations will change. But organisations will still need people who can interpret information, manage risk, make sound decisions and guide others through uncertainty.

Those capabilities are often built through experience.

That is why, despite all the changes taking place across the sector, experience remains one of the industry's most valuable assets.

The challenge for the years ahead is not choosing between experience and innovation.

It is bringing the two together.

The organisations that succeed will be those that embrace new ideas while valuing the knowledge already within their teams. Likewise, the professionals who thrive will be those who continue learning while building on the experience they have already earned.

In a changing gas industry, experience still matters.