Global wind industry faces workforce challenge says GWEC

New research shows the workforce challenge facing the global wind industry with nearly 600,000 technicians needed during the next five years.

The Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) have published a joint report forecasting the numbers of wind technicians required to construct, install, operate and maintain the anticipated global wind fleet up to 2027.

According to the Global Wind Workforce Outlook 2023-2027, over 574,000 technicians will be required for commercial and industrial, as well as operations and maintenance by 2027, but to keep pace with this growth, almost 43% of them will be new to the industry, joining from an education and recruitment pipeline or transferring from other sectors, such as offshore oil and gas.

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Report highlights

• National governments must leverage renewable energy expansion to foster job, training and reskilling opportunities
• With annual wind energy installations expected to double by 2027, a 17% rise in the number of wind technicians required for C&I and O&M over the five-years is predicted
• An extra 84,600 technicians will be needed to support the expansion of wind power and an additional 159,200 people to replace the technicians expected to naturally exit the wind industry between 2023 to 2027.
• There will be significant opportunities for new talent to enter from full-time education and transition from other sectors, however, there is an urgent need for faster growth in safety and technical training capacity to meet the anticipated supply chain gaps.

Jakob Lau Holst, CEO of Global Wind Organisation, said: “The GWO/GWEC Global Wind Workforce Outlook demonstrates not just how many people will be needed for the forecast installation and maintenance of the world’s wind fleet but emphasises how many of these will be new arrivals to the sector. This underlines the need for a renewed focus on entry level skills that match the needs of employers and complements the existing capabilities people bring from other sectors and education systems.”

Ben Backwell, CEO of GWEC empahsised the importance of a robust workforce and healthy supply chain to support the significant growth of wind energy required to meet climate targets.

"Without a skilled and sustainable workforce for wind and renewable energy, the energy transition will not materialise in time,” said Backwell.