Workforce Analysis

NREL combines technology insights with workforce assessments and trend modeling to project the critical skills and roles needed to meet growing energy demand.

NREL's workforce analysis uncovers critical needs, challenges, and opportunities across energy technologies. Leveraging unique capabilities, NREL analyzes energy workforce trends at all jurisdictions. Insights from these assessments and other NREL analyses help stakeholders understand job readiness, career pathways for degreed and non-degreed workers, and other workforce considerations needed to support a reliable energy system.

Capabilities

Modeling and Analysis

NREL's suite of workforce models supports the analysis of current and future workforce needs for a range of energy technologies. To assess impact, NREL has technology-specific demand and supply models that are powered by a combination of publicly available data and NREL datasets. NREL also develops new datasets that inform resources that advance workforce development in the energy industry, such as occupational maps and energy education and training catalogs. NREL's workforce modeling and analysis is flexible and continues to adapt to the dynamic needs of the energy sector.

Jobs and Economic Development Impact Models (JEDI)

International Jobs and Economic Development Impacts Model (I-JEDI)

Environmentally-extended Multi-regional Projection of Lifecycle and Occupational energY futures (EMPLOY)

System Dynamics Workforce Model

State Clean Energy Employment Projections

Outreach and Engagement

NREL's workforce modeling and analysis activities are grounded in the knowledge and perspectives of key stakeholders. NREL leads outreach and survey efforts to collect insights and needs from workforce stakeholder groups, including industry, educators and trainers, current workers, students, and community members. This data collection and feedback from energy sector and community partners informs workforce analysis and shares insights into the latest workforce trends across energy technology areas.

Highlighted Projects

Since 2019, with funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office, NREL has conducted outreach and analysis of U.S. marine energy and hydropower workforce needs and trends through partnerships with these industries. This work combines quantitative modeling with qualitative stakeholder-driven insights to develop resources and programs to strengthen the water power industry workforce. Some of this work includes web portals on OpenEI for hydropower and marine energy, educational applications such as REDi island, and American-Made challenges such as the Hydropower Collegiate Competition and Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.

NREL has been a prominent leader in wind workforce analysis, publishing several research reports since 2012 to understand the gaps and opportunities in U.S. wind energy. Most recently, the DOE Wind Energy Technologies Office sponsored national-level assessments to document the needs, gaps, and opportunities in the wind industry, including a trend-tracking National Wind Energy Workforce Assessment. The research approach combines quantitative modeling and qualitative stakeholder-driven insights to provide critical information to industry. The research has informed the development of resources and programs on OpenEI to support the wind industry.

The I-JEDI model was developed to estimate gross economic impacts from wind, solar, biopower, and geothermal energy projects around the world. I-JEDI has been used to estimate employment, earnings, gross domestic product, and output from the construction and operation of energy projects and across the domestic supply chain. This information helps align energy action with key economic development goals. The tool has been developed and applied in several countries—including Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, the Philippines, and Zambia—and can be applied to more countries around the world.