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Hiring Wave Coming for Offshore Wind

According to Rystad Energy, a hiring wave is on its way with demand for offshore wind personnel to triple by 2030.

Rystad Energy says the “demand for offshore wind staff will triple by the end of the decade, surging to 868,000 full-time jobs from an estimated 297,000 in 2020. In fact, the hiring spree will already be visible in the middle of the decade, as jobs demand could reach about 589,000 in 2025.”

Rystad Energy estimates offshore wind installed capacity could rise to 110 gigawatts (GW) by 2025 and 250 GW by 2030. This prolific growth will require a lot of skilled employees. “In our analysis, we have calculated the staffing needs in the number of full-time equivalent (FTE) workers – one year of full-time employment for one person regardless of actual hours – and included only direct and indirect jobs driven by offshore wind capacity deployment globally.

Offshore wind jobs PR.jpg

Learn more in Rystad Energy’s OffshoreWindCube.

Direct jobs relate to development manufacturing, construction, installation, and the operation and maintenance of offshore wind farms. Indirect jobs relate to materials and services consumed, such as workers in steel plants supporting offshore wind turbines, electronics workers at companies supplying nacelle components, and staff of renewable energy regulatory institutions.

O&M jobs, meanwhile, driven by the installed capacity of wind farms, have contributed about 7% of the total job count in 2020 and will make up about 12% in 2025. With a rapid increase in offshore wind installed capacity, O&M will gain a larger share of the total jobs. C&D roles will still dominate, however, because a typical offshore wind farm spends 60-70% of its capex in the lead-up to its commissioning, which takes between one and three years.

By 2030, turbine manufacturing will continue to create most of the jobs, accounting for 54% of the total. Therefore, turbine manufacturers such as Siemens Gamesa, Vestas, Goldwind and GE Renewable Energy are expected to employ additional labor and establish more factories for bigger turbines in the coming years.

Rystad Energy estimates that Europe, Asia outside of China, and the Americas will drive the global jobs creation in the offshore wind sector.

Asia, excluding China, will see a major jobs boost, most noticeable in the second half of this decade, as South Korea, Vietnam, Japan and Taiwan are expected to contribute significant offshore wind capacity. China, meanwhile, could see demand for jobs stagnate towards 2030, despite the current activity ramp-up. 

In the Americas, the US will be a major driver for offshore wind deployment because of the ambitious plans to decarbonize the power sector by 50% by 2030 put forward by the current Democratic administration.

“Oil and gas workers will also benefit from this expected growth in offshore wind employment globally, as they share some skills sets and essential offshore knowledge. Offshore wind areas such as foundation manufacturing, offshore construction, project development, and O&M have been highly relevant to oil and gas operations,” says Alexander Fløtre, Rystad Energy’s Product Manager for Offshore Wind.

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