According to IRENA and ILO, the 18% year-on-year leap in renewable energy jobs worldwide reflects the strong growth of renewables generating capacities, together with a continued expansion of equipment manufacturing.

A closer look at the report’s data, however, shows an uneven global picture. Close to two-thirds of new global solar and wind capacity were installed in China alone last year.

China leads with an estimated 7.4 million renewable energy jobs, or 46% of the global total. The European Union (EU) followed suit with 1.8 million, Brazil with 1.56 million, and the US and India, each with close to one million jobs.

As in the past few years, the strongest impetus came from the rapidly growing solar photovoltaics (PV) sector, which supported 7.2 million jobs globally. Of these, 4.6 million were in China, the dominant PV manufacturer and installer, the study finds. Enabled by significant Chinese investments, south-east Asia has emerged as an important export hub of solar PV, creating jobs in the region.

Liquid biofuels had the second-largest number of jobs, followed by hydropower and wind. Brazil topped the biofuels ranks, accounting for one third of the world’s 2.8 million jobs in this sector. Soaring production put Indonesia in second, with a quarter of global biofuels jobs, according to the report.  

Due to a slowdown in deployment, hydropower became an outlier to the overall growth trend, with the number of direct jobs estimated to have shrunk from 2.5 million in 2022 to 2.3 million. China, India, Brazil, Vietnam and Pakistan were found to be the largest employers in that industry.  

In the wind sector, China and Europe remain dominant. As leaders in turbine manufacturing and installations, they contributed 52% and 21% to the global total of 1.5 million jobs, respectively.  

Despite immense resource potential, Africa continues to receive only a small share of global renewables investments, which translated into a total of 324,000 renewables jobs in 2023. The report notes that for regions in urgent need of reliable and sustainable energy access, decentralised renewable energy (DRE) solutions – stand-alone systems that are not connected to the utility grids – present an opportunity to both plug the access gap and generate jobs. Removing barriers for women to start entrepreneurship initiatives in DRE can stimulate the sector, resulting in improved local economies and energy equity.

To meet the energy transition's growing demand for diverse skills and talents, policies must support measures in favour of greater workforce diversity and gender equity. Representing 32% of the renewables total workforce, women continue to hold an unequal share even as the number of jobs keeps rising. It is essential that education and training courses lead to diverse job opportunities for women, youth, and members of minority and disadvantaged groups, the report concludes.  

Growth of EU solar jobs stagnates as rooftop market slows

In other news, a report from SolarPower Europe finds that the growth of Europe’s green jobs is faltering, as the solar sector foresees only a 0.4% increase in workforce in 2024. Despite a 27% growth in job numbers in 2023, slower solar deployment and a challenged manufacturing sector will limit the growth of the solar workforce from 826,000 in 2023, to 830,000 in 2024, the report finds.  

The pause in workforce growth is due to slowing solar installations, as the impacts of the energy crisis are lessened and the roll-out of solar is hampered by limited flexibility in the system, the report notes. At the upstream end of the value chain, European solar manufacturing has been facing significant challenges in the last 12 months, leading to production pauses and workforce reduction.

Walburga Hemetsberger, Chief Executive Officer, SolarPower Europe, comments: ‘Solar can offer more than one million workers a meaningful, quality career in their local communities. These job opportunities can’t be taken for granted. We urge the new EU leadership to improve regulatory conditions to add more solar, support EU solar manufacturers, and develop Europe’s strategy around solar skills.’

The annual EU Solar Jobs Report has revised last year’s projection that the EU would reach one million solar jobs by 2025. Instead, the report identifies the need to reach this size of workforce by 2027, in order to deliver 88.5 GW of annual solar installations in line with the continent’s competitiveness, climate and energy security goals.  

At a national level, there has also been movement, according to the report. Reflecting the 104% growth in its solar market from 2022 to 2023, Germany’s solar workforce surged to become the largest in Europe, with 154,000 solar workers. Poland, previously the largest, fell to second place with 113,000 as its job-intense residential market slowed. Spain is in third place, with the emphasis on its less job-intense utility-scale sector delivering more GW capacity for fewer workers.

To ensure that the solar workforce remains ready to deliver the continent’s primary decarbonisation tool through the second half of the decade, the report makes a number of policy recommendations:  

• Assessing the exact need for workers and skillsets at national level.  
• Creating a pan-renewable energy career path.
• Including an electrification skills strategy under the upcoming EU Electrification Action Plan.
• Boosting the visibility and allure of STEM education and careers.
• Retraining workers from legacy-fossil industries.  
• Supporting the circulation of skills in Europe.
• Developing solar-specific training within electrical professional training.