The U.S. is seeing a significant increase in employment opportunities in all aspects of renewable energy. According to the 2023 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER), the U.S energy workforce added roughly 114,000 clean energy jobs in 2022—a significant increase over previous years. The term clean energy jobs is a broad category that includes:
- Clear energy technologies (solar and wind)
- Clean vehicles: electric, hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid, and hydrogen and fuel-cell Advanced biofuels
- Clean energy storage (BESS, substation)
- Smart grid, micro grid, grid modernization
- Energy efficiency including ENERGY STAR® and high efficiency appliances, lighting, HVAC, renewable heating and cooling, and advanced building materials
Jobs in all of the above categories now surpass 3.3 million—which amounts to more than 40% of all jobs in the energy sector.
A closer look at where the growth is
- The solar energy industry employs more than a third of the renewable energy sector’s total workforce. It accounted for approximately 4.9 million jobs in 2022.
- Clean vehicle makers continue to lead all clean energy sectors in job growth—adding nearly 50,000 jobs. Electric vehicle (EV) manufacturing led the sector, adding nearly 30,000 jobs alone in 2022 (up 26.8%), followed by hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles.
- Two other sectors that saw significant job growth in 2022 were energy storage (up 6.2%) and grid modernization (11.6%).
- California and Texas continue to lead the U.S. in clean energy jobs with 500,000 and 250,000 workers respectively.
Ten of the fastest growing clean energy jobs
The University of Pennsylvania has highlighted ten specific careers in the renewable energy industry that will be in high demand over the next decade. They include:
- Wind turbine service technicians (Job growth by 2031: 44%)
- Solar photovoltaic (PV) installers (Job growth by 2031: 27%)
- Sustainability specialists (Job growth by 2031: 7%)
- Environmental scientists (Job growth by 2031: 5%)
- Urban planners (Job growth by 2031: 4%)
- Environmental engineers (Job growth by 2031: 4%)
- Hydrologists (Job growth by 2031)
- Electronics engineers (Job growth by 2031: 6%)
- Environmental science and protection technicians (Job growth by 2031: 6%)
- Air quality engineers (Job growth by 2031: 4%)
Clean energy career opportunities at Blymyer
As a provider of end-to-end design and engineering services for the renewable energy industry, Blymyer works with professionals in virtually every aspect of clean energy, including many listed above. Our team itself draws on a broad range of disciplines and skill sets, and as a result of the sizable increase in business we’ve been experiencing over the past few years, we’re continually on the lookout for experienced and talented individuals to join our team.
“If you believe in and are as committed to the transition to clean energy as we are, we invite you to visit our career page on our website and reach out to us about your interest in career opportunities at Blymyer. We also encourage you to visit our LinkedIn page for specific job openings,” says Mike Rantz, Blymyer President. “Our team is passionate about what we do, and welcome others who share our passion.”