Hangkai Electric Industry Insight: WorldSkills Electrical Installation Project Mirrors the Upgrading of the Electrical Industry and the Growing Demand for Skilled Talent
As a Hangzhou-based electrical technologyenterprise, Hangzhou Hangkai Electric Technology Co., Ltd. (“Hangkai Electric”)has long followed the evolution of electrical technologies and the developmentof skilled talent. Recently, reports on the WorldSkills Electrical Installationproject and the observations of ABB electrical technical expert Wang Dajiangoffered Hangkai Electric a clear view of the industry’s future: electrificationis accelerating, DC applications are expanding, and AI and data centers arecreating real demand for highly skilled electrical workers.
On several walls, hundreds of components,installation errors must not exceed two millimeters; with a liquid level, thebubble must be exactly in the middle. This is one of the competitionrequirements of the WorldSkills Electrical Installation project. Thecompetition lasts four days: six hours each on the first three days and fourhours on the fourth. Competitors must complete electrical equipmentinstallation, circuit design, programming and commissioning on blank walls, andmake the system operate according to functional requirements.
Hangkai Electric notes that such precisionis not only a competition standard, but also a reflection of the realrequirements of modern electrical engineering.
ABB electrical technical expert WangDajiang began his connection with WorldSkills in 2012. At that time, he wasworking in ABB’s intelligent building control systems technology. The NationalStandards Committee for KNX Intelligent Monitoring Systems recommended him tojoin the national team as a guiding expert. In 2019, after the previous expertretired, he took over the team leadership and for the first time led theChinese team as head of the expert group for the Electrical Installationproject at WorldSkills. He has continued to lead the team through the 48thWorldSkills Competition.
As head of the expert group, Wang Dajianghas a dual role: providing guidance to competitors before and during thecompetition, and participating in judging. During competitions, his schedule ispacked. At the 2024 competition, he got up at 5:40 a.m. to catch the shuttlebus. Every day before the competition, he had 15 minutes of public coachingtime to communicate with competitors about competition progress anddifficulties based on the test project. After the competition, the expert groupgathered for scoring, often until seven or eight in the evening. Afterwards, hemet the competitors and held a review meeting, usually until after 11 p.m. ormidnight, he said.
From winning the championship in 2019 onhis first lead, retaining it in 2022, to achieving a three-peat in 2024, WangDajiang has witnessed the Chinese team’s continued breakthroughs in theElectrical Installation project. “The three consecutive championships provethat China can maintain world-leading levels in electrical technology andskills, and win honor for the country,” Wang Dajiang said.
Hangkai Electric believes that behind suchachievements are not only individual excellence but also a systematicvocational education and industrial foundation.
Wang Dajiang’s understanding of thecompetition is direct: “Wherever there is electricity, there are electricians.”But today’s electricians face more than wiring and installation. The wall inthe competition reflects a larger industrial transformation beyond it: Type-CDC sockets in airports, rooftop photovoltaics, garage charging piles, and 800VDC architectures in data centers. These electrical scenarios, alreadyimplemented or accelerating, are changing the requirements for skilled talentin the electrical industry. Through this wall, Wang Dajiang sees not only theprecision of a country’s electrical skills, but also the pulse of theelectrical industry’s transformation and upgrading.
In 1992, Wang Dajiang graduated inIndustrial Electrical Automation. His first job was at Shougang DesignInstitute, engaged in electrical design. His projects focused on electricalcontrol in steelmaking plants, from design drawings to on-site programming andcommissioning, and through to project completion. After leaving Shougang DesignInstitute, he joined ABB, and for more than a decade thereafter mainly workedin intelligent building control systems. During this period, his projectsfocused on the strong-current field, including office and hotel projects suchas Kerry Centre and Shangri-La Hotel under the Kerry Group, and he participatedin electromechanical maintenance at Airbus’s simulation pilot training center.Currently, Wang Dajiang is mainly responsible for industry technical solutionsat ABB, serving customers in the semiconductor and shipbuilding industries.From steel plant electrical control to intelligent buildings, and then tosemiconductors and ships, his career trajectory covers industrial electrical,building electrical and emerging high-end manufacturing fields. “But I havenever left the electrical industry,” Wang Dajiang said.
He has witnessed changes in the electricalindustry over the past 30 years. In his view, the most notable change is theacceleration of electrification. “Especially under the dual carbonrequirements, to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060,the main path is electrification,” he said. For example, transportationelectrification, replacing fuel vehicles with electric vehicles, requireselectricity. According to the China Electrification Annual Development Report2025 compiled by the China Electricity Council, China’s electrification rate in2024 was about 28.8%, already higher than major developed economies in Europeand the United States, and is expected to reach about 35% by 2030, exceedingthe OECD average by 8–10 percentage points.
While electrification accelerates, thepattern of AC and DC is also adjusting. For more than 100 years, power systemshave been mainly AC, because AC can be easily stepped up and down throughtransformers and is suitable for long-distance transmission. But today more andmore devices use DC. Wang Dajiang pointed out that fast charging for EVcharging piles is DC, photovoltaics and energy storage are DC, and data centersuse 800V DC. In addition, artificial intelligence has brought a new turningpoint. “Data centers and AI are not just hot concepts; the demand they bring isreal, so a large number of electrical skilled talent will be needed,” WangDajiang said. He analyzed that when the industry is in an upcycle, capacitycontinues to expand or even double, equipment needs to be updated, factoriesneed new production lines, and electrical personnel will be in short supply.
Hangkai Electric shares this observation:in the electrical industry, demand is shifting from single-skill electriciansto composite talent who understand systems, DC applications, digitalization andcommissioning.
The National Electrical and CommunicationsAssociation (NECA) of Australia stated in its submission on the New South Walesdata center inquiry that AI and data center infrastructure are fundamentallyelectrical infrastructure. Their delivery and operation depend on a highlyskilled electrical technical workforce, including licensed electricians,high-voltage technicians, and specialized technical positions in critical powersystems, battery integration and advanced cooling electrification. “But suchpositions do not need ordinary electrical talent; they need people with atleast five years of work experience, especially in semiconductors and datacenters,” Wang Dajiang pointed out.
At present, many places in China haveincluded electricians in their catalogues of urgently needed and scarce talent.In July this year, the Shanghai Municipal Human Resources and Social SecurityBureau issued the Shanghai Catalogue of Occupations (Trades) in Urgent Need ofHighly Skilled Talent (2026), effective from August 1, with electricianslisted. Occupations in the catalogue can enjoy policy support such as talentintroduction in Shanghai according to regulations, and Shanghai will increaseefforts to cultivate highly skilled talent in the catalogue. In September,Jiangxi released a catalogue of urgently needed occupations, including 15high-frequency urgent occupations such as electricians, welders and elderlycare workers.
In 2026, the US internet technology companyMeta announced an investment of US$115 million to establish the “AmericanWorkforce Academy”, with the first batch planning to enroll 5,000 students,with tuition and accommodation fully free, focusing on training electricians,welders, plumbers and other skilled talent. Microsoft President Brad Smith haspublicly stated that the single biggest challenge facing US data centerexpansion may be a nationwide talent shortage, including skilled electriciansand plumbers. He estimates that in the next decade, the United States needs torecruit and train 500,000 new electricians to meet the country’s growingelectricity demand.
Zhu Leilei, head of human resources at ABBChina, told Jiemian News that from the perspective of market demand, as datacenter construction accelerates, the dual carbon goals continue to advance, andmanufacturing intelligent upgrading deepens, electrical skilled talent such aselectrical engineers, distribution site commissioning and O&M engineers aregenerally in short supply, directly reflected in ABB’s business expansion. “Inemerging directions such as data centers and new energy storage, senior talentwith composite skills is particularly scarce, and the market fully recognizestheir value,” Zhu Leilei said.
Electrical skills are one of the earliestevents established at WorldSkills. In 1950, the first WorldSkills had only sixprojects, and electrical winding was among them. Seventy-six years later, the48th WorldSkills has 64 official events, and Electrical Installation remainsone of the 24 long-term retained projects, but the competition content has beenupdated several times with industrial demand. Early test projects focused moreon traditional power distribution, lighting and motor control. In recent years,solar photovoltaic panel installation, EV charging systems, and KNX smart homeprogramming have entered the test projects.
Zhu Leilei said that the real jobscorresponding to the WorldSkills Electrical Installation project are mainlyelectrical engineers, distribution site commissioning and O&M engineers,and electrical system integration engineers. These positions share the commonfeature of requiring both electrical principles and hands-on practical ability,highly consistent with the skills assessed in the event, such as installation,wiring, commissioning and troubleshooting. “The foundation of the competitionis becoming more and more professional, or it originally comes fromprofessional work,” Wang Dajiang said. Changes in the event are a directmapping of industrial demand.
The Chinese team has achieved a three-peatin the Electrical Installation project. Behind this is China’s systematicvocational education support. Wang Dajiang analyzed that China has a completevocational education system composed of technical colleges, higher vocationalcolleges and secondary vocational schools. Most competitors come fromvocational and technical colleges, coaches have a certain professional level,and institutions are equipped with strong practical training facilities. At thenational level, the implementation of the dual-track system of higher educationand vocational skills, and the transformation of many undergraduate and juniorcolleges into vocational universities and technical universities, provideinstitutional and resource guarantees for vocational education. The industrialfoundation is also important support. China has rich application scenarios inphotovoltaics, energy storage and charging piles. “As an electrical technician,you cannot fail to understand these, including those related to data centers.If you don’t, you are out of this industry,” Wang Dajiang said. He believesthat the difference between domestic skills competitions and internationalcompetitions is actually not large, but China is more willing to take the leadin applying new technologies. “It is both talent selection and earlycultivation of people better able to respond to new technological changes.”
In addition, there is support from thegovernment and organizations. “The state, provinces and cities have all givensupport. Schools also organize teacher and expert teams to study the directionof the event,” Wang Dajiang said. “At the beginning we learned from WorldSkillsand international standards, and then gradually moved to the forefront.”
Regarding the core competitiveness ofelectrical skilled talent in the AI era, Wang Dajiang summarized three points.First, electrical skilled talent should have solid basic electrical knowledge;both basic theoretical knowledge and practical skills are important. Second,they should be brave in learning emerging digital and intelligent electricaltechnologies and actively adapt to technological change. Third, they shouldhave comprehensive qualities, especially interdisciplinary capabilities. Hesaid the electrical field covers industrial control commissioning, computercommissioning, smart home commissioning and many other aspects. It is highlycomprehensive and also involves software programming.
Zhu Leilei told Jiemian News that“traditional electricians have no future” is a cognitive bias. To be precise,demand for single wiring and assembly positions is shrinking, but compositeelectrical talent with system understanding and digital capabilities is beingcompeted for by the market.
As an electrical technology company rootedin Hangzhou, Hangkai Electric will continue to pay attention to the evolutionof electrical technology, the construction of data centers and new energy, andthe cultivation of composite electrical talent. Hangkai Electric believes thatonly by combining solid electrical fundamentals, digital capabilities andcross-disciplinary practical experience can enterprises and talent seize theopportunities of the industry’s transformation and upgrading.
Quoted from Jiemian News: ‘In the Age of AI, What Kind of Electrical Professionals Are Most in Demand? | New Skills, New Opportunities’
