Upskilling And Reskilling In The Renewable Energy Industry Statistics

Key Takeaways

• 175% of executives say workers’ skills are a critical business factor, per Gartner research summarized in Gartner’s press materials
• 2The EU’s Clean Energy Package funding includes €800 billion for recovery/transition investments through NextGenerationEU, forming a basis for skills and project pipeline—affecting renewable workforce upskilling
• 3The IEA estimated that investment in clean energy needs to rise to $5 trillion per year by 2030 to reach net zero—expanding the buildout that requires reskilled workers
• 4Global solar PV cumulative installed capacity reached 1,401 GW in 2023, per IRENA’s World Electricity and Energy Transitions report (2024 edition) based on 2023 data
• 5Global solar capacity additions were 447 GW in 2023 (cumulative additions across solar power), per IRENA’s Renewable Capacity Statistics 2024
• 6The U.S. had 169,653 MW of renewable energy installed capacity in 2023 (including wind, solar, hydropower, geothermal, and biomass), per U.S. EIA
• 7The U.S. solar industry employed 244,000 workers in 2023, per U.S. Solar Employment data from SEIA and SEIA/GTM analysis
• 8The U.S. wind industry employed 120,000 workers in 2023, per U.S. Wind Energy industry workforce reporting by AWEA/WEA (as compiled by the U.S. wind industry)
• 9The World Economic Forum estimated 14% of workers will need reskilling by 2027 (among skills disruption), in the Future of Jobs Report 2023
• 10IRENA estimated that achieving renewable energy goals can create new jobs faster than conventional energy transitions, with workforce development improving transition speed; (job creation impacts quantified within IRENA’s Jobs report)
• 11World Bank data show that firms offering training to workers have higher productivity; the World Bank’s Learning Challenge indicates training interventions raise earnings by an average of 10% (meta-analytic finding for workforce programs)
• 12The OECD reported that adults who participate in lifelong learning are about 14% more likely to be employed (earnings/employment relationship), indicating upskilling improves labor outcomes
• 13NREL documented that virtual/remote training can reduce training costs by 30% in energy workforce programs by shifting instructor time and travel to digital delivery (training cost efficiency metric)
• 1462% of employees report learning new skills at work is important to them, supporting why reskilling programs are increasingly adopted in technical sectors
• 15In 2023, the International Renewable Energy Agency estimated that solar PV and wind alone can require workforce scaling that grows substantially by 2030 (context for upskilling demand)

With renewables surging and jobs changing fast, most executives and experts say reskilling is critical.