Joblift analyzes clean energy jobs in the U.S.
San Diego, California. August 16th, 2018 — Few technologies are as relevant to the world right now as renewable energy. Not only is it considered instrumental in the fight against climate change, the renewable energy industry is also steadily adding jobs to the U.S. economy. Job platform Joblift recently analyzed online postings for jobs in five different renewable energy sectors from the last 12 months and found that the wind power sector is leading the nation in terms of renewable energy job growth and strengthening sections of the Midwest like Lansing, Michigan, where there are 435 jobs for every 100,000 residents.
Solar Power Declines while Geothermal Energy Leads Renewable Energies in Job Growth With 9% Increase in Postings
During the last year, there were 49,000 online postings for wind power jobs, 26,634 for solar power, 3,238 for biomass, 2,436 for hydroelectricity and 1,732 for geothermal. Postings for wind power jobs grew by a monthly average of 0.7%, biomass by 1%, hydroelectricity by 0.4% and geothermal by 9.3%. Postings for solar power jobs decreased by an average of 5%. Comparatively, the total number of job postings in the U.S. declined by 2% on average each month. Decline in solar power job postings could be attributed to the fact that it is already an established renewable energy source in the U.S. The sharp increase in geothermal listings corresponds to a report from REN21 that cites the U.S. as leading the world in geothermal energy capacity, as it accounts for approximately 3.5 of 13,520 megawatts in total throughout the globe.
Wind Turbine Tech: The Green Job to Get With Average Monthly Growth of 43% and Median Income of $53,800
The wind and solar power sectors added the most renewable energy jobs to the economy during the last year and will be the focus of the remainder of this analysis. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the two fastest growing occupations in the United States are solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine service technicians. The latter can expect to earn almost one and a half times more than the former ($53,380 vs. $39,490). Over the last year, 10% of all solar power job postings were for solar photovoltaic installers and 15% of all wind power job postings were for wind turbine service technicians. Postings for wind turbine service technicians are increasing at more than five times the rate of those for solar photovoltaic installers (43% vs. 8% average monthly increase). With a salary that exceeds $50,000 a year and a growth rate that is virtually unparalleled, it is hard to imagine a safer career choice than wind turbine service technician.
Lansing, Michigan Proves Itself as Wind Power Hub with 485 Jobs for Every 100,000 Residents
Ohio leads the country in wind power jobs. Over the period of the last year, there were 31 jobs for every 100,000 residents. Lansing, Michigan holds the distinction of being the city with the most wind power job postings per capita, with 485 jobs for every 100,000 residents. The most solar power job postings per capita were in Utah, where there were 22 jobs for every 100,000 residents. The city with the most solar jobs per capita is Lehi, Utah, with 332 solar jobs for every 100,000 residents.
“It’s great to see so many jobs being added to rust belt states like Ohio and Michigan that were once manufacturing hubs. I think that the renewable energy industry has the potential to add economic vitality not only to those states, but to the country as a whole,” says Matt Kopjak, managing director of the U.S. market at Joblift.
ABOUT JOBLIFT
Joblift is a job platform that makes the hiring process intuitive and frictionless for both job seekers and employers. By using the latest machine learning techniques and big data-based algorithms, Joblift provides an optimal match between applicant and organization. Currently active in the US, the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, Joblift cooperates with over 4,000 partners to combine over 10 million job postings on our platform. Our highly energetic and entrepreneurial team is led by experienced founders Lukas Erlebach (CEO) and Alexander Rausch (COO), who most recently held C-Level positions at Zalando and Amorelie.