Renewable energy will create work in the United States “twice as fast as other occupations,” according to forecasts by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While the Trump administration tries to breathe life into a relative handful of jobs in U.S. coal, a hiring wildfire has broken out in renewable energy, the former reality TV star’s least-favourite sector. Jobs in solar installation and wind turbine servicing are both projected to roughly double by 2026 from their number in 2016, according to Bloomberg’s coverage of the Labor Bureau report.
- The climate news you need. Subscribe now to our engaging new weekly digest.
- You’ll receive exclusive, never-before-seen-content, distilled and delivered to your inbox every weekend.
- The Weekender: Succinct, solutions-focused, and designed with the discerning reader in mind.
The increased employment (105% for solar installers, 96% for turbine technicians) will also be more than double that in the next fastest-growing American employment sector, home health aids.
The median solar panel installer made US$39,340 last year, the Associated Press reports. For wind technicians, the 2016 median salary was $52,260.
The biggest losers in the Bureau’s forecast? Locomotive firers, who will see nearly 79% of the jobs in their industry vanish over the next nine years.
