Employment in Europe’s wind energy sector is expected to rise to about 607,000 jobs by 2030 from around 443,000 currently, according to a new workforce report published by industry body WindEurope.
The organisation said the sector now supports about 211,000 direct jobs across activities including project development, manufacturing, installation, operation and decommissioning, with offshore wind accounting for roughly 20% of those roles.
Manufacturing makes up nearly half of direct employment, supported by more than 250 factories across Europe and over 14 billion euros ($15.2 billion) of industrial investment in the past two years, WindEurope said.
However, the report warned that jobs growth could accelerate further if project deployment increased. WindEurope said the European Union is on track to reach about 344 gigawatts of installed wind capacity by 2030, well below its target of 425 GW.
The report identified widespread skills shortages across the sector, highlighting 235 job profiles and an urgent need for thousands of workers in specific roles before the end of the decade. These include around 7,000 blade technicians, 6,500 field engineers and 5,000 pre-assembly technicians.
“Jobs growth could be faster, but wind build-out remains below target,” WindEurope said, adding that addressing labour gaps would require expanded training programmes, retraining workers from other industries, harmonised certification systems and improved mobility of skills across EU member states.
WindEurope noted that eight out of ten critical roles depend on vocational education and training, underscoring the need to raise the visibility and attractiveness of such career paths.
To support workforce planning, the organisation said it will launch a Workforce Development Tool allowing users to analyse employment data by country, project lifecycle stage and job profile to help anticipate training needs and guide investment decisions.
