Clean energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, heat pumps and batteries employ hundreds of thousands of people across the European Union, but skills shortages and low representation of women and young people are reported across the sector.
Employment in the global energy sector grew by 2.2% in 2024, compared with 1.3% growth in employment across the wider economy, figures from the International Renewable Energy Agency and the International Labour Organization show.
The EU ranks second after China for jobs directly or indirectly linked to renewable energy, with 1.8 million jobs, while China has 7 million, the European Environmental Agency informed in a release on Wednesday.
Wind energy was the biggest employer among the four technologies assessed, with an estimated 273,500 direct jobs in the EU in 2023, with 77% in downstream operations such as maintenance, contracting and sales administration.
Solar photovoltaic (PV) — the technology used to generate electricity from sunlight — directly employed more than 227,000 people in 2023, with roughly half in operations and 36% in the construction value chain including infrastructure work and grid connection.
Heat pumps, which move heat into buildings for heating, employed an estimated 80,100 workers in 2023, with 65% in construction roles.
The battery sector employed around 33,000 workers in 2023 and recorded the fastest job growth of the four technologies between 2018 and 2023, with most jobs in manufacturing.
Jobs are concentrated and inclusion gaps persist
Clean-tech employment was unevenly distributed across the EU, with Germany having the largest number of jobs in wind (125,000 in 2023), solar PV (nearly 84,000) and batteries (12,300).
Portugal, Spain and Italy led in heat pump jobs, while Hungary and Poland recorded the fastest employment growth in batteries.
Women’s participation ranged from 26% in wind and batteries to 14% in the heat pump sector, while workers aged 15–24 made up 6–7% of the workforce across wind, solar PV and heat pumps in 2023.
Most EU member states reported gaps in installation and construction-related technical roles, and skill shortages were cited as a risk to the deployment of clean energy technologies.
