New figures clarify the workforce challenge facing the global wind industry with nearly 600,000 technicians needed during the next five years – with more than 240,000 of these roles new recruits to the industry.
The Global Wind Organisation (GWO) and Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) have published their latest joint report forecasting the numbers of wind technicians required to construct, install, operate, and maintain (C&I and O&M) the anticipated global wind fleet up to 2027.
The Global Wind Workforce Outlook 2023-2027 sets out that over 574,000 technicians will be required for C&I and O&M 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.
Annual wind energy installations are expected to double from 78 GW in 2022 to 155 GW in 2027, bringing the total wind capacity worldwide to more than 1,500 GW in just five years. Driven by technology innovation and the fast-growing offshore wind market, the Outlook predicts a 17% rise in the number of wind technicians required for C&I and O&M over the five-year forecast period.
That growth would require an extra 84,600 technicians to support the expansion of wind power. However, with a typical 6% attrition rate the wind industry would also need to recruit an additional 159,200 people to replace the technicians expected to naturally exit the wind industry between 2023 to 2027.
