Trivia: What’s more searched in Google, “solar energy jobs,” or “wind energy jobs?”
The answer historically is solar jobs, but it appears that for the moment, wind jobs are trending.
This post aims to explore trends like the example above to gather more insights into where both industries have been, where they are going, and most importantly, what these trends can uncover for employers in solar energy & wind energy as we move deeper into 2020.
2019 Recap
Historically speaking, both industries have experienced healthy growth in the U.S. with combined employment of 339K in 2019. The graph below from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IREA) shows a market share of 26 percent for solar and 13 percent for wind.
Solar Energy
2019 turned out to be another stellar year for solar energy, with over 225K active jobs and another 77K projected by June 2020 – bringing the grand total to over 300K. Additionally, nearly 600K megawatts of solar energy were installed in 2019.
Wind Energy
Wind energy also experienced a record year in the U.S with around 114,000 jobs and over 100K megawatts installed.
Current State
All signs were pointing to more growth in 2020 for both industries until the planetary COVID-19 pandemic hit, crippling the U.S. economy and the renewable energy market. The bad news is that the solar industry is expected to employ 114,000 fewer workers by June 2020 while the wind industry is anticipating at least 35,000 wind and turbine jobs at risk.
The good news is that customers are buying record amounts of American wind power and early forecasting predicts that 20 percent of the U.S electricity generation will be from solar energy by 2030, which is extremely promising for both industries.
In terms of jobs, it appears that Solar Energy Technician jobs are reaching record search queries in Google, potentially indicating a large portion of candidates looking for work.
On the wind energy side of things, Wind Turbine Technicians are also experiencing record high search queries that are nearly double from what they were five years ago.
Bottom Line
Initial data from solar and wind energy may seem discouraging at first, but there are promising signs for a prosperous future. A recent report has indicated that the Renewable energy industry, in general, appears to be more resilient than other parts of the energy sector.
While the future is unclear, one thing that is certain is that when it comes time to hiring top-tier talent for both the wind and solar energy, Anistar Staffing is here to help!
Anistar Staffing
At Anistar, our mission is to strive daily to focus on what is truly important, the people. We value all of our clients, contractors, internal personnel, and candidates in the renewable energy field and take great pride in helping connect talented workers with leading companies.
Contact us today for all your immediate and future hiring goals.
