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Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

A National Skills Assessment of 

the U.S. Wind Industry in 2012

M. Leventhal and S. Tegen

Technical Report

NREL/TP-7A30-57512

June 2013
NREL is a national laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy

Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

Operated by the Alliance for Sustainable Energy, LLC

This report is available at no cost from the National Renewable Energy

Laboratory (NREL) at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Contract No. DE-AC36-08GO28308

National Renewable Energy Laboratory

15013 Denver West Parkway

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303-275-3000 • www.nrel.gov

A National Skills Assessment of 

the U.S. Wind Industry in 2012 

M. Leventhal and S. Tegen

Prepared under Task No. WE11.0610

Technical Report

NREL/TP-7A30-57512

June 2013
NOTICE

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States government. 

Neither the United States government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, 

express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of 

any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately 

owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, 

trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, 

or favoring by the United States government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors 

expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States government or any agency thereof.

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Cover Photos: (left to right) photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 16416, photo from SunEdison, NREL 17423, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 

16560, photo by Dennis Schroeder, NREL 17613, photo by Dean Armstrong, NREL 17436, photo by Pat Corkery, NREL 17721.

 Printed on paper containing at least 50% wastepaper, including 10% post consumer waste. 
i 

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Jonathan Bartlett, Cash Fitzpatrick, and Jose Zayas of the U.S. Department of 

Energy’s Wind and Water Power Technologies Office for their input and for funding this 

research. We are also grateful for Phillip Jordan of BW Research, who conducted our industry 

survey and provided guidance about industry surveying. We thank Ian Baring-Gould of the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Charles Newcomb of Endurance Wind for their 

insight into the wind power deployment process. Any mistakes or omissions are the 

responsibility of the authors. 
ii

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at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 1

Methods ........................................................................................................................................................ 1

Conduct Wind Industry Employer Survey ............................................................................................. 2

Catalog Wind-Specific Education and Training Programs .................................................................... 6

Correlate Employer Preferences with Available Education and Training Programs ............................. 6

Project New Wind Workforce Hires Needed for the 20% Wind by 2030 Scenario............................... 8

Estimate Number of Graduates Needed by Degree Type....................................................................... 8

Results ......................................................................................................................................................... 8

Wind Industry Employer Survey............................................................................................................ 8

Cataloging Wind-Specific Education and Training Programs............................................................. 16

Summary of Employer Educational Preferences.................................................................................. 17

Project New Hires in Wind Workforce Needed for the 20% Wind by 2030 Scenario......................... 19

Estimate Number of Graduates Needed by Degree Type..................................................................... 24

Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................... 27

Employer Preferences for Wind Energy Training and Education........................................................ 27

Availability and Graduation Rates of Wind Workforce Training and Educational Programs............. 27

Women in the Wind Industry ............................................................................................................... 28

Growth of the Wind Workforce ........................................................................................................... 28

Growth in Educational Programs Focusing on Wind Energy .............................................................. 28

References................................................................................................................................................. 29

Appendix A: Estimate of U.S. Wind-Specific Degree Programs .......................................................... 30

Appendix B: Limited Feedback on Potential Class Size Increases ..................................................... 31

Appendix C: Alternate Scenario Produces Outcome with Smaller Shortfall of Programs ............... 32

Appendix D: BW Research Method for Estimating Today’s Wind Power Employees....................... 33

Appendix E: BW Research Survey.......................................................................................................... 35

List of Tables

Table 1. Industry Classification and Occupations................................................................................... 4

Table 2. Occupations Included in the Report........................................................................................... 5

Table 3. Sample Educational Program...................................................................................................... 6

Table 4. Example of Employer Educational Preference for an Occupation.......................................... 7

Table 5. Example of Relative Importance of Wind-Specific Degree ...................................................... 7

Table 6. Level of Difficulty in Finding Qualified Applicants (by Occupation)....................................... 9

Table 7. Work Experience: Importance of Occupational Experience vs. Wind-Specific Experience10

Table 8. Preferred Educational Attainments for New Hires.................................................................. 11

Table 9. Importance of Different Levels of Wind Energy Training and Education............................. 13

Table 10. Importance of Wind Energy College Degrees vs. Degrees Not Related to Wind Energy . 14

Table 11. Female Representation in Wind Energy Workforce by Occupation.................................... 15

Table 12. Response Rate (Number of Schools)..................................................................................... 16

Table 13. Distribution of Degree Program Levels in Response Set .................................................... 16

Table 14. Graduates per Year and Percentage Entering Wind Industry.............................................. 17

Table 15. Percentage of Employers Who Prefer a Wind Energy-Specific Degree/Certificate for New 

Hires by Occupation........................................................................................................................... 18

Table 16. 20% Wind by 2030 Capacity Installation Requirements*...................................................... 20

Table 17. Percent of Selected Occupations from the Survey in the O&M Sector .............................. 21

Table 18. Estimates of Additional Employees Needed by Occupation Per Year................................ 23

Table 19. New Wind Energy-Specific Credential Programs Needed in the United States to Train the 

Future Wind Workforce...................................................................................................................... 24

Table 20. Percentage of Graduates Entering Wind Industry and Number of Graduates Per Program 

Per Year............................................................................................................................................... 25

Table 21. Calculating Number of Wind Energy-Specific Programs Needed to Fulfill Projected 

Industry Demand (rounded to the nearest 10 with the exception of graduates per year) .......... 26

Table 22. Estimate of Number of Current Degree Programs in the United States ............................. 30
iii

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Table 23. Potential Class Size Increases................................................................................................ 31

Table 24. Calculating Number of Wind Energy-Specific Programs Needed to Fulfill Projected 

Industry Demand (Alternate Scenario)............................................................................................. 32

 
1 

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Introduction

A robust and well-trained workforce is essential to developing domestic wind power projects to 

meet future energy demands. The future wind power workforce will include manufacturing, 

siting, operations, maintenance, education, and research capabilities. How prepared is the United 

States to train future employees in the wind industry? The purpose of this research is to better 

understand: 

• Today’s domestic wind workforce 

• Projected future workforce needs 

• Whether existing and new training and educational programs meet the wind industry's 

future needs. 

Results presented in this report provide the first published investigation into the detailed makeup 

of the wind energy workforce as well as a glance at the educational infrastructure and training 

needs of the wind industry. Insights from this research into the domestic wind workforce will 

allow the private sector, educational institutions, and federal and state governmental 

organizations to make better informed workforce-related decisions based on the current data and 

future projections. 

Methods 

After completing a literature review of publicly available reports, National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL) researchers learned that a U.S. wind workforce or labor assessment had not 

been performed on a national scale. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded NREL to 

assess the existing wind workforce with an emphasis on skills and training. Using projections 

from the report 20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s Contribution to U.S. 

Electricity Supply (U.S. DOE 2008; hereafter referred to as 20% Wind by 2030), we estimated 

future industry needs and will compare them to existing wind training programs. This enables 

NREL to provide information to DOE about whether the United States needs to increase the 

number of educators and students attending wind training programs to meet wind deployment 

goals. 

Our research had five components: 

1) Conduct a wind industry employer survey 

2) Compile an evolving catalog of wind-specific education and training programs 

3) Correlate employer preferences with available education and training programs 

4) Project new hires needed in the wind workforce to account for growth needed for the 

20% Wind by 2030 scenario 

5) Estimate the number of graduates needed by program type (e.g., graduate-level course, 

community college degree). 

The following sections describe the methods used for each of these components.
2 

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at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Conduct Wind Industry Employer Survey

The first component of our research was a wind industry employer survey to better understand 

the size of the domestic wind workforce and the distribution of occupations across the wind 

industry supply chain, as well as to assess the level and types of education, training, and 

experience preferred by employers when making hiring decisions. 

To conduct the survey, NREL hired BW Research Partnership, a firm experienced in workforce 

surveys and analyses. Survey data were collected in August and September 2012. Employers 

first received the survey via e-mail. BW Research initiated a phone survey for employers who 

did not respond online. Appendix D of this report contains the full survey questionnaire 

The total survey size consisted of approximately 1,900 contacts from the commercial-scale wind 

energy industry, and we received 418 completed responses. Industry contacts for the survey 

came from various sources, including the membership lists of the American Wind Energy 

Association (AWEA) and Windustry, and contacts within NREL’s OpenEI and Wind Powering 

America contact databases.1

The detailed questions for employers concerning each occupation included: 

• Level of difficulty in finding qualified applicants (by occupation) 

• Importance of occupational experience versus wind-specific experience

• Preferred educational attainment for new hires

• Employers’ preferences for wind energy training and education 

• Importance of wind energy college degrees versus degrees not related to wind energy

• Female representation in the wind energy workforce by occupation. 

The questionnaire included 35 occupations divided among 15 wind industry company 

classifications, such as project development, turbine manufacturing, installation, and operation 

(see Table 1). These occupations and wind industry company classifications were developed by 

several NREL employees, each with extensive wind energy experience, specifically for this 

survey. Suitable Bureau of Labor Statistics Standard Occupational Classification codes do not 

currently exist for the full breadth of occupations within wind energy and thus could not be used. 

The 35 occupations were selected from a larger list of wind industry jobs (the fewer number of 

occupations allows focus while still demonstrating the wide diversity of occupations across the 

industry). Several occupations (e.g., administrative or clerical) existed in more than one wind 

industry classification. The questionnaire asked employers to select a primary industry 

classification for their company (from a list of 15) and then asked them to select which 

occupational categories best represent their employees (from a list of 5 to 8). Of course, many 

companies employ more than five to eight occupations, so our list was not exhaustive and instead 

focused on the most prevalent wind occupations within that industry classification. 

 

1 http://en.openei.org/wiki/Main_Page and http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov
3 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

To maximize response rates and minimize the number of incomplete surveys, questions and 

response options were structured to allow respondents to complete the survey within a 15-minute 

timeframe. This is a standard threshold to minimize fatigue and dropout (Jordan 2012). For 

instance, if an employer noted that his company employed all eight occupations listed for his 

industry classification, detailed questions of only four of these occupations, chosen randomly, 

would be asked of this employer. Table 1 shows which occupations were included in each 

industry classification. The green boxes indicate that the occupation was present in the industry 

classification.
4 

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Table 1. Industry Classification and Occupations 

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Occupations Included Per 

Supply Chain Classification 

in Wind Employer Survey 

Site Identification, Assessment, or Pre-DevelopmentProject Development: Legal, Real Estate, or FinanceProject Permitting: Regulatory, Environmental, or Wildlife AssessmentManufacturing of Engineered Structures (tower, bedplate, hub)Manufacturing of Drive Trains (couplings, bearings, gearboxes)Manufacturing of BladesManufacturing of Power Equipment and Electronics (generators, cables, cooling, lighting, etc.)Manufacturing of SubComponents or MaterialsNacelle AssemblySales, Distribution, or Transport of Wind Energy Products (including OEM sales)On-site Civil Works (roads, foundations, site improvements)On-site Mechanical Assembly (installation of towers or turbines)On-site Electrical Work (substation, collection grid, final grid connection)Operations and MaintenanceEducation, Training, or Research

Admin/clerical 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Assembly workers 1 1 

Attorneys 1 1 1 

Construction laborers 1 1 1 

Construction managers 1 1 1 

Development finance 1 

Development managers 1 

Development technical 

specialists 1 

Engineers 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 

Government regulatory workers 1 

Land-leasing agents 1 

Managers of sales, operations, 

& training 1 1 1 

Manufacturing managers 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Manufacturing salespeople 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 

O&M accountants & 

bookkeepers 1 

Paralegals 1 

Product designers 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Professional trainers 1 

Professors & teachers 1 

Research engineers 1 

Resource assessors & 

surveyors 1 1 

Scientists 1 2 

Supply chain & purchasing 

managers 1 1 1 1 1 1 

Trade workers 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 

Transportation/logistics workers 2 

Wind technicians 1 1 

*Industry classifications are listed in columns; occupations are listed in rows
5 

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After data collection, we aggregated jobs within similar occupational categories to minimize 

redundancy and adjusted occupation names for clarity as needed. We also deleted one 

occupational role as only two companies claimed to employ that position. In the end, we 

performed our full analysis on 26 occupations in the wind industry. 

Table 2. Occupations Included in the Report

# of Firms Responding 

with this Occupation

Admin/clerical 131

Managers of sales, operations, & training 88

Engineers 65

Trade workers 58

Supply chain & purchasing managers 52

Manufacturing managers 43

Product designers 40

Manufacturing salespeople 39

Professors & teachers 37

Attorneys 34

Research engineers 32

Professional trainers 30

Development managers 27

Construction managers 25

Scientists 21

Development finance 20

Development technical specialists 19

Construction laborers 15

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 15

Wind technicians 14

Land-leasing agents 13

Resource assessors & surveyors 18

Government regulatory workers 11

Transportation/logistics workers 17

Paralegals 9 

Assembly workers 9 
6 

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at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Catalog Wind-Specific Education and Training Programs

The second component of this study was to catalog available wind-specific education and 

training programs to learn about the number of graduates and percentages of graduates working 

in the wind industry.

We conducted the cataloging by searching post-secondary schools’ and educational 

organizations’ websites to identify wind-specific programs in the United States. We searched 

websites of schools previously identified by Wind Powering America as having some association 

to wind energy education. We documented classes, degrees, research, and major resources (e.g., 

a working wind turbine that could be utilized for training). We categorized degrees as Certificate, 

Associate's, Bachelor's, Master’s, and Ph.D. The catalog only includes information on programs 

focusing on wind energy or renewable energy with a large portion of the curriculum devoted to 

wind. The program title or description must include the word “wind” or “renewable.” 

After we cataloged a school’s programs, we sent an e-mail to professors and administrators 

asking them to 1) review the school’s publicly available program descriptions for completeness 

and accuracy, 2) enumerate how many people graduated from each program, and of those, 3) 

identify what portion proceeded to work in the wind industry, if known. NREL researchers 

aggregated the responses from these schools to create a dataset of wind-specific education and 

training programs. An example is shown in Table 3. This example shows a single degree 

program from a single school; many schools offer multiple programs. 

Table 3. Sample Educational Program

Type of 

School

School 

Name

Extent of 

Wind Focus 

(Credential, 

Courses, 

Research, 

Resource)

Program 

(Ph.D., 

Master's, 

Bachelor's, 

Associate's, 

Certificate)

Name of 

Program/ 

Concentration

Graduates 

per Year

Number 

Entering 

Wind 

Industry

Percent 

Entering 

Wind 

Industry

Universities

University 

of Your 

State

Credential Master's

Graduate 

Program in 

Renewable 

Energy 

Development

10 3 30%

Correlate Employer Preferences with Available Education and 

Training Programs

The next phase involved connecting employers' preferences regarding education level attained 

for each occupation with wind-specific programs that meet those preferences. To achieve this, 

we focused on two questions from our employer survey. 

• Q7: preferred educational attainment for new hires 

• Q8: the importance of wind-specific experience, certification, and education vs. 

occupational-focused education that is not specific to wind. 
7 

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In the example in Table 4, we see that employers most frequently preferred a graduate-level 

education for research engineers. However, some employers only required a bachelor degree, 

while some wanted a post-bachelor professional certification. We utilized the full range of 

employer responses in our analysis. 

Table 4. Example of Employer Educational Preference for an Occupation

High School 

Diploma

Post-Secondary 

Professional 

Certificate 

(Journeyman, 

Trade/Technical 

Programs)

Associate's

Degree

Bachelor's

Degree

PostBachelor 

Professional 

Certification 

(e.g., CPA, 

PE, LEED)

Master's

Degree, 

Ph.D., or Law

Research 

engineers 0% 0% 0% 17% 11% 71%

We also need to understand whether employers require this degree to be wind-specific because 

one focus of this research is whether enough wind-specific training and educational programs are 

available. To achieve this, we examined the ratio of employers preferring wind-specific college 

degrees to degrees not focused on wind (or for the few occupations that do not require some type 

of college degree, we look at a similar ratio concerning professional certification). Table 5 shows 

the percentage of employers indicating that they felt it was "very" or "somewhat" important for 

employees in this particular occupation to have the specific degree. 

Table 5. Example of Relative Importance of Wind-Specific Degree

College Degree

Wind-Specific 

College Degree

Ratio of Importance of WindSpecific College Degree vs. 

Degree Not Specific to Wind

Research engineers 97% 48% 50% 

In the case of research engineers, we found that approximately half as many employers rated a 

wind energy-specific degree as important relative to a general college degree. For our analysis, 

we multiply responses from Q7 (Table 4) by responses to Q8 (Table 5) to determine the 

percentage of wind-specific degrees that are needed by occupation, by degree level. 

To determine whether the United States will have enough qualified employees to meet future 

labor needs of the wind industry, we need to answer such questions as:

• How many new employees in a given occupation will the wind industry require over the 

next 20 years? 

• How many participants of qualifying programs will graduate each year?

The final two steps of the analysis enable us to begin to answer these questions. 
8 

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Project New Wind Workforce Hires Needed for the 20% Wind by 2030 

Scenario

The wind employer survey estimated that approximately 70,000 people are currently employed 

in the United States in the wind energy industry.2 As construction continues each year and 

cumulative installed capacity increases, the U.S. wind industry will require more workers. By 

associating the current workforce with capacity installed3

 in 2012 (12 GW) and cumulative 

installed capacity (59 GW in 2012), we can estimate increases needed in the wind labor 

workforce to meet annual installation schedules described in DOE’s 20% Wind by 2030 modeled 

energy scenario. Such a projection includes estimates for increases in production efficiency per 

worker, as well as attrition due to people leaving the industry to retire or pursue other careers. 

The authors understand that the scenario as represented in the 20% Wind by 2030 report is only 

one potential scenario that the wind industry could follow. Readers should consider projections 

in this report indicative of future industry needs, based on current workforce trends, assuming a 

strong future marketplace for wind energy development as outlined in the 2008 DOE report. 

Estimate Number of Graduates Needed by Degree Type

After we estimate how many new employees we might need per occupation by year, we apply 

our calculated percentage requiring a wind-specific degree of a given level. This indicates how 

many graduates with wind-specific degrees are needed per year. By adjusting this figure by the 

likelihood of these graduates to enter the wind industry after graduation and how many students 

graduate from each program per year, we can develop an estimate of how many programs are 

needed at each degree level. Our analysis focuses on the needs of the peak hiring year for the 

industry (2016 for most occupations; 2019 for occupations in the operations and maintenance 

(O&M) sector). The results are estimates based on the data we obtained, which are limited by the 

small sample size of education and training programs. 

Results

Wind Industry Employer Survey

As stated, NREL hired a contractor to conduct a wind industry employer survey for which we 

had approximately 1,900 contacts in the utility-scale wind energy industry.4 We received 418 

valid responses. Appendix C of this report contains the full survey questionnaire. 

The following results are based on stated preferences of our sample of wind energy employers. 

While our total sample consisted of more than 400 employers, since these employers occupied 

different positions within the supply chain (and hence employed different occupations), any 

single occupation included responses with a base size of employers ranging from nine to 131. 

About half the occupations included responses from 30 or more employers. 

Table 6 lists occupations ranked from high to low based on the percentage of companies citing 

“great difficulty” finding qualified applicants for a given occupation. Overall, wind employers 

were more likely to state they had “some difficulty” finding qualified applicants, as opposed to 

 

2 See Appendix D for an explanation of how we estimated the approximately 70,000 employees. 3 12 GW of capacity installed in 2012 was the estimated end of year figure as of November 2012. Actual 

installations came in slightly higher at 13 GW.

4 Educational institutions were also included in the survey if they offered wind education programs.
9 

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“great difficulty.” According to this survey, the most difficult positions to fill are professors and 

teachers.

Table 6. Level of Difficulty in Finding Qualified Applicants (by Occupation)

Some Difficulty Great Difficulty Some or Great Difficulty

Professors & teachers 41% 43% 84%

Product designers 40% 35% 75%

Trade workers 40% 31% 71%

Manufacturing salespeople 33% 31% 64%

Wind technicians 50% 29% 79%

Construction managers 44% 28% 72%

Professional trainers 50% 27% 77%

Development technical specialists 47% 26% 74%

Engineers 42% 25% 66%

Scientists 48% 24% 71%

Research engineers 47% 22% 69%

Managers of sales, operations, & training 40% 22% 61%

Attorneys 26% 18% 44%

Transportation/logistics workers 24% 18% 41%

Land-leasing agents 31% 15% 46%

Development managers 37% 15% 52%

Paralegals 33% 11% 44%

Supply chain & purchasing managers 44% 10% 54%

Construction laborers 67% 7% 73%

Resource assessors & surveyors 39% 6% 44%

Development finance 35% 5% 40%

Admin/clerical 31% 4% 35%

Manufacturing managers 72% 2% 74%

Government regulatory workers 73% 0% 73%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 60% 0% 60%

Assembly workers 67% 0% 67%

Average 45% 17% 62%

Table 7 compares employers’ preferences for new hires with wind-specific work experience 

relative to general occupational experience. The data are ranked by the ratio of importance of 

each of these types of work experience. Across all occupations, wind employers agreed that it 

was more important that new hires have experience in their occupational field over wind-specific 

experience. Those roles near the top of the table represent the positions for which wind industry 

experience requirements are almost as important as general experience in the occupation.

Response scale: No Difficulty Some Difficulty Great Difficulty
10 

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Table 7. Work Experience: Importance of Occupational Experience vs. Wind-Specific Experience

Importance of Work Experience when Hiring 

Employees (Mean Rating)

Experience in a 

Related 

Occupational 

Field

Experience in 

Wind Energy

Ratio (Wind 

Specific/Related 

Occupation)

Resource assessors & surveyors 1.9 1.8 94%

Professional trainers 2.6 2.4 93%

Managers of sales, operations, & training 2.3 2.1 91%

Research engineers 2.5 2.2 90%

Professors & teachers 2.6 2.3 87%

Engineers 2.3 2.0 87%

Construction managers 2.6 2.2 84%

Development technical specialists 2.7 2.3 83%

Development managers 2.8 2.3 83%

Transportation/logistics workers 2.3 1.9 82%

Construction laborers 2.0 1.6 82%

Assembly workers 2.3 1.9 81%

Manufacturing salespeople 2.2 1.8 79%

Wind technicians 2.5 1.9 78%

Admin/clerical 1.8 1.2 71%

Development finance 2.2 1.5 70%

Scientists 2.4 1.7 69%

Product designers 2.4 1.7 68%

Attorneys 2.2 1.5 66%

Land-leasing agents 2.4 1.6 66%

Trade workers 2.3 1.5 64%

Paralegals 1.8 1.2 64%

Manufacturing managers 2.4 1.4 61%

Supply chain & purchasing managers 2.2 1.4 61%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 2.3 1.1 50%

Government regulatory workers 2.5 1.0 40%

Average 2.3 1.7 75%

Response scale: Not Needed +1 Somewhat Important +2 Very Important +3
11 

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Table 8. Preferred Educational Attainments for New Hires

High 

School 

Diploma 

or Less

Post-Secondary 

Professional 

Certificate 

(Journeyman, 

Trade/ Technical 

Programs)

Associate's

Degree

Bachelor's

Degree

PostBachelor 

Professional 

Certification 

(e.g., CPA, 

PE, LEED)

Master's

Degree, 

Ph.D., or 

Law

Attorneys 0% 0% 0% 6% 21% 74%

Research engineers 0% 0% 0% 17% 11% 71%

Scientists 0% 0% 0% 19% 10% 71%

Government regulatory 

workers 0% 0% 0% 42% 0% 58%

Professors & teachers 0% 5% 15% 10% 7% 63%

Development managers 0% 3% 0% 39% 29% 29%

Engineers 0% 2% 0% 54% 15% 29%

Managers of sales, 

operations, & training 1% 2% 5% 42% 16% 34%

Development finance 0% 0% 5% 50% 23% 23%

Development technical 

specialists 5% 5% 0% 47% 11% 32%

Product designers 3% 3% 0% 63% 10% 23%

Resource assessors & 

surveyors

6% 6% 22% 33% 0% 33%

Professional trainers 3% 16% 10% 32% 10% 29%

O&M accountants & 

bookkeepers 7% 0% 13% 60% 13% 7%

Manufacturing salespeople 3% 3% 10% 79% 3% 3%

Construction managers 4% 12% 8% 58% 12% 8%

Manufacturing managers 2% 9% 13% 69% 7% 0%

Supply chain & purchasing 

managers

2% 4% 25% 68% 2% 0%

Paralegals 0% 0% 38% 63% 0% 0%

Land-leasing agents 0% 21% 7% 71% 0% 0%

Admin/clerical 18% 13% 28% 36% 1% 4%

Transportation/logistics 

workers 28% 11% 22% 33% 6% 0%

Trade workers 27% 62% 7% 5% 0% 0%

Wind technicians 25% 58% 17% 0% 0% 0%

Assembly workers 33% 44% 22% 0% 0% 0%

Construction laborers 56% 44% 0% 0% 0% 0%
12 

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In Table 8, occupations are ranked from high to low by required educational achievement (mean 

years; not directly shown in chart). The yellow highlighting represents the most common 

response per occupation. Wind industry employers require a wide range of educational levels for 

the different occupations they hire. The most common educational achievement required was a 

bachelor's degree; several occupations required an advanced degree. Employers preferred that 

trade workers, wind technicians, and assembly workers have some form of post-high school 

professional training and that construction workers have a high school diploma. 

Table 9 compares the importance of three levels of wind energy-specific training by occupation: 

• Courses, conferences, workshops 

• Professional certification

• Wind energy-specific college degree. 

The table is ranked high to low on the first column of data. 

Yellow highlighted text represents 40% or more of wind employers rating wind energy-specific 

professional certification or a wind-specific college degree as "very or somewhat important." 

This applies to a minority of occupations. By comparing the average across the three, we see that 

wind employers desire their new hires to have been exposed to some basic level of wind energy 

training, but requirements for professional certification or wind-specific college degrees are not 

important for the majority of occupations in the wind industry. 

Please note that wind energy-specific programs are recent developments. Thus, it is possible that 

employers not rating these programs as important may be due to the fact that until recently, few 

if any were available.
13 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 9. Importance of Different Levels of Wind Energy Training and Education 

% Rating "Very or Somewhat 

Important"

Wind Energy-Specific 

Training (Including 

Courses, Workshops, 

Conferences, Etc.)

Wind Energy-Specific 

Professional 

Certification

Wind EnergySpecific College 

Degree

Professional trainers 87% 57% 22%

Research engineers 86% 55% 48%

Professors & teachers 86% 56% 47%

Development technical specialists 84% 63% 47%

Development managers 78% 28% 28%

Construction managers 68% 36% 18%

Managers of sales, operations, & 

training 67% 31% 24%

Resource assessors & surveyors 65% 18% 24%

Wind technicians 60% 47% 40%

Engineers 58% 44% 36%

Manufacturing salespeople 57% 11% 11%

Assembly workers 57% 43% 29%

Product designers 56% 26% 15%

Scientists 53% 27% 20%

Attorneys 48% 3% 7%

Land-leasing agents 46% 8% 15%

Construction laborers 45% 0% 0%

Manufacturing managers 43% 20% 10%

Development finance 35% 5% 5%

Government regulatory workers 33% 0% 0%

Paralegals 33% 17% 17%

Trade workers 33% 21% 7%

Supply chain & purchasing 

managers

24% 12% 6%

Transportation/logistics workers 20% 0% 13%

Admin/clerical 19% 10% 8%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 14% 0% 7%

Average 52% 24% 19%

Response scale: Not Needed Somewhat Important Very Important
14 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 10 compares the relative importance of a wind-specific college degree to that of a college 

degree that is not specifically focused on wind energy. The table is ranked high to low on this 

ratio, which is shown in the far right column. With the exception of a few occupations, only a 

minority of employers required college degrees specific to wind energy. All employers requiring 

wind technicians and assembly workers to hold a college degree felt that it is important that the 

degree is specific to wind energy. Approximately half of wind employers claimed that it was 

important for new hires to have a wind-specific degree in the occupations of development 

technical specialists, research engineers, and professors/teachers.

Table 10. Importance of Wind Energy College Degrees vs. Degrees Not Related to Wind Energy 

% Rating "Very" or "Somewhat" Important

College 

Degree

Wind EnergySpecific College 

Degree

Ratio of Importance of 

Wind Energy-Specific 

College Degree vs. Degree

Not Specific to Wind

Assembly workers 29% 29% 100%

Wind technicians 40% 40% 100%

Development technical specialists 84% 47% 56%

Research engineers 97% 48% 50%

Professors & teachers 100% 47% 47%

Trade workers 19% 7% 38%

Engineers 100% 36% 36%

Development managers 94% 28% 30%

Resource assessors & surveyors 88% 24% 27%

Managers of sales, operations, & training 95% 24% 25%

Transportation/logistics workers 53% 13% 25%

Land-leasing agents 62% 15% 25%

Professional trainers 91% 22% 24%

Construction managers 77% 18% 24%

Scientists 100% 20% 20%

Paralegals 100% 17% 17%

Product designers 93% 15% 16%

Manufacturing salespeople 86% 11% 13%

Admin/clerical 61% 8% 13%

Manufacturing managers 80% 10% 13%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 93% 7% 8%

Supply chain & purchasing managers 79% 6% 7%

Attorneys 100% 7% 7%

Development finance 85% 5% 6%

Construction laborers 9% 0% 0%

Government regulatory workers 100% 0% 0%

Average 77% 19% 28%

Response scale: Not Needed Somewhat Important Very Important
15 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 11 exhibits the percentage of female wind employees by occupation. Employers' responses 

indicate that the vast majority of paralegals, administrative staff, and government regulatory 

workers in the wind industry are female (more than 80%). The majority of O&M 

accountants/bookkeepers, supply chain/purchasing managers, and development finance 

employees are women. Women made up less than 20% of employees in 12 of the 26 occupations 

studied during this research. 

Responses to survey questions asking about minority representation (including women) tend to 

overstate the number of minorities in a business if that minority is a protected class of worker

(Jordan 2012). 

Table 11. Female Representation in Wind Energy Workforce by Occupation

% Female by Occupation in 

Wind Energy Industry

Paralegals More than 90%

Admin/clerical More than 90%

Government regulatory workers 80%-89%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 60%-69%

Supply chain & purchasing managers 50%-59%

Development finance 50%-59%

Scientists 40%-49%

Manufacturing managers 30%-39%

Attorneys 30%-39%

Land-leasing agents 30%-39%

Managers of sales, operations, & training 20%-29%

Professional trainers 20%-29%

Professors & teachers 20%-29%

Development managers 20%-29%

Research engineers 10%-19%

Development technical specialists 10%-19%

Construction managers 10%-19%

Resource assessors & surveyors 10%-19%

Engineers 10%-19%

Product designers 10%-19%

Trade workers 10%-19%

Manufacturing salespeople 10%-19%

Assembly workers Less than 10%

Construction laborers Less than 10%

Transportation/logistics workers Less than 10%

Wind technicians Less than 10%
16 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Cataloging Wind-Specific Education and Training Programs

The table below summarizes the number of schools we contacted, how many responded, and of 

the responses, how many were completed thoroughly enough to use in our analysis. Eighteen

schools provided complete information. 

Table 12. Response Rate (Number of Schools)

E-mails sent 49

Responses returned 31 63% of mail sent

Quality data 18 58% of responses 37% of mail sent

Many schools offered multiple degrees. Of the 18 schools that provided thorough feedback, on 

average we received data for two to three programs per school. Thus, respondents provided 

information about 43 programs. The distribution of programs across degree levels is shown in 

Table 13. 

Table 13. Distribution of Degree Program Levels in Response Set

Program Count

8 Post-secondary certificate

10 Associate's degree

4 Undergraduate certificate

8 Bachelor's degree

1 Graduate certificate

8 Master's degree

4 Ph.D.

43 Total

Of the 43 programs, 18 are at the community or technical college level and 25 are university 

programs. 

Table 14 lists summary statistics about post-secondary wind-specific educational programs and 

their graduates. The mean number of graduates per year from university programs is almost three 

times the median, indicating a strong skew generated by a few large programs in this sampling. 

Results show that the percentage of community or technical college graduates who move into the 

wind industry after graduation is significantly higher than that of university graduates. This is 

likely due to the fact that 1- and 2-year technical programs offered by community colleges are 

tailored toward careers in wind energy more than higher-level degrees. Even though we 

attempted to focus our efforts on wind-specific degrees in university programs, many of these 

programs included wind energy content in addition to content on other renewables such as solar. 

These programs also included broad engineering disciplines utilized across a wide range of 

industries, including aerospace, utilities, and civil construction. Thus, the lower percentage of 

graduates entering the wind energy field from university programs may be due to a wider variety 

of opportunities available to these graduates.
17 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 14. Graduates per Year and Percentage Entering Wind Industry 

Graduates per Year % Entering Wind Energy Industry

Program 

Count

Institution 

Type Max Mean Median Min Max Mean Median Min

18 Community & 

tech colleges 60 17 10 1 100% 75% 90% 0%

25 University 300 34 12 3 50% 15% 10% 0%

Summary of Employer Educational Preferences

We derived Table 15 by combining employer survey responses to questions #7 and #8 in the 

questionnaire. 5 We examined the percentage of employers rating a wind energy-specific 

degree/certification as somewhat or very important in their hiring criteria, relative to a college 

degree/certification that is not wind-specific. We multiplied these ratios (importance of wind 

energy-specific versus a more general focus) by the preferred educational attainment for new 

hires by occupation. The resulting data reveal the percentage of new hires that should have a 

wind-specific degree or certification by occupation to meet employers’ preferences. 

Table 15 should be read across rows. For instance, these data indicate that 45% of employers 

prefer that a newly hired wind technician have a wind energy-specific professional certificate, 

while 17% want a wind-specific associate's degree. One can infer from this that 38% [100%-

(45%+17%)] do not consider it important for their new wind technicians to have wind-specific 

education of this level. For example, perhaps the employer is willing to hire and train a new 

employee for this role if the new hire has experience in a relevant line of work. 

 

5 Q7: preferred educational attainment for new hires; Q8: the importance of wind-specific experience, certification, 

and education vs. occupational-focused education that is not specific to wind.

The much lower percentages of university graduates entering the wind industry compared to 1-

and 2-year programs are due in part to the fact that university-level wind programs are not as 

narrowly focused on wind energy and also often include other renewable technologies such as 

solar and other specialties such as aerospace and civil construction.
18 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 15. Percentage of Employers Who Prefer a Wind Energy-Specific Degree/Certificate

for New Hires by Occupation 

Post-Secondary 

Professional 

Certificate 

(Journeyman, 

Trade/Technical 

Programs)

Associate's

Degree

Bachelor's

Degree

PostBachelor's

Professional 

Certification 

(e.g., CPA, 

PE, LEED)

Master's

Degree, 

Ph.D., or 

Law

Admin/clerical 4% 4% 5% 0% 0%

Assembly workers 27% 22% 0% 0% 0%

Attorneys 0% 0% 0% 1% 5%

Construction laborers 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Construction managers 8% 2% 14% 3% 2%

Development finance 0% 0% 3% 1% 1%

Development managers 2% 0% 12% 9% 9%

Development technical specialists 4% 0% 27% 6% 18%

Engineers 1% 0% 19% 6% 11%

Government regulatory workers 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Land-leasing agents 4% 2% 18% 0% 0%

Managers of sales, operations, & 

training 1% 1% 11% 4% 9%

Manufacturing managers 3% 2% 9% 1% 0%

Manufacturing salespeople 1% 1% 11% 0% 0%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 0% 1% 5% 1% 1%

Paralegals 0% 6% 10% 0% 0%

Product designers 1% 0% 10% 2% 4%

Professional trainers 12% 2% 8% 2% 7%

Professors & teachers 4% 7% 5% 3% 30%

Research engineers 0% 0% 9% 6% 36%

Resource assessors & surveyors 3% 6% 9% 0% 9%

Scientists 0% 0% 4% 2% 14%

Supply chain & purchasing managers 1% 2% 5% 0% 0%

Trade workers 25% 3% 2% 0% 0%

Transportation/logistics workers 0% 6% 8% 1% 0%

Wind technicians 45% 17% 0% 0% 0%
19 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Project New Hires in Wind Workforce Needed for the 20% Wind by 

2030 Scenario

To estimate new hires in the wind workforce, we began with our employer survey data, which 

served as a baseline of current wind industry employees as of August 2012, by occupation. Then 

we used the table below to project the future workforce. Most occupations were linked to annual 

gigawatts installed. For instance, the 20% Wind by 2030 scenario indicates that 14 GW of wind 

will need to be installed in 2016 (DOE 2008), 17% more than in 2012. Thus, we assume that 

some segments of the wind workforce need to expand by that percentage to meet the increase in 

installations, all else being equal. 

However, all else is not equal each year. Our model also included two other factors: attrition at 

an average rate of 7% per year6 and labor productivity increases of 1% to 3% annually, 

depending on occupation (Bloomberg 2012). Our attrition figure only accounts for retirement 

and individuals choosing to leave the wind industry and does not adjust for people who remain in 

the wind industry but move to a new company as that does not impact the number of new 

employees needed. As stated previously, 20% Wind by 2030 is only one industry growth 

scenario; if wind deployment continues above this amount, an expanded workforce would be 

expected. If deployment is slower than that represented in this scenario, a smaller workforce will

be the likely outcome. 

 

6 Attrition figures are derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (accessed December 26, 2012: 

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.htm).
20 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 16. 20% Wind by 2030 Capacity Installation Requirements* 

 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030

Annual GW 

Installed 12 5 10 12 14 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 13

Cumulative 

GW Installed 

End of Year

59 64 74 86 100 115 131 147 163 179 195 211 227 243 259 275 290 304 317

Average 

Cumulative 

GW Installed 

for the Year

53 62 69 80 93 108 123 139 155 171 187 203 219 235 251 267 283 297 311

Annual 

Capacity 

Installed 

Relative to 

2012

1.00 0.42 0.83 1.00 1.17 1.25 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.33 1.25 1.17 1.08

Average 

Cumulative 

Installed 

Capacity 

Relative to 

2012

1.00 1.16 1.30 1.51 1.75 2.03 2.32 2.62 2.92 3.23 3.53 3.83 4.13 4.43 4.74 5.04 5.33 5.60 5.86

*U.S. DOE 2008. Note: 2012 is likely to occur based on actual installations to date as of November 2012. 2013 is adjusted down based on DOE guidance due to 

recent industry expectations.
21 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Jobs in the O&M sector were projected based on the growth of total cumulative installed 

capacity, not annual installations. The following jobs are found in the O&M sector in our survey: 

Table 17. Percent of Selected Occupations from the Survey in the O&M Sector

Wind technicians Primarily O&M Greater than 70%

O&M accountants & bookkeepers Significant O&M Greater than 30%, less than 70%

Managers of sales, operations, & training Significant O&M Greater than 30%, less than 70%

Attorneys Some O&M Less than 30%

Admin/clerical Some O&M Less than 30%

Engineers Some O&M Less than 30%

These jobs are also found in other supply chain sectors, thus the relationship of their growth with 

increases in cumulative installations is correlated with the proportion of these jobs based in the 

O&M sector. Table 17 groups these occupations into Primarily O&M, Significant O&M, and 

Some O&M to clarify this relationship. 

Figure 1. Wind employment projections to reach 20% Wind by 2030 (with average productivity 

increases of 2% and attrition of 7%) 

The growth of the wind industry included in this report follows projections outlined in 20% 

Wind by 2030. This analysis did not attempt to assess whether these estimates of wind capacity 

installations were accurate or likely. We simply used these projections, with an adjustment to 

2013 for the expected reduction in installations, to estimate the projected change in employment 

overall, as well as by occupation. 

Total Employement 

Change in Employment 

vs. Previous Year

New Employees 

Needed 

 (40,000)

 (30,000)

 (20,000)

 (10,000)

 -

 10,000

 20,000

 30,000

 40,000

 50,000

 60,000

 70,000

 80,000

 90,000

 100,000

 110,000

Employees
22 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

The wind industry is expecting a significant reduction in wind employment in 2013 because 

Congress did not renew the Production Tax Credit until January.7

 Based on projected 

installations of 5 GW in 2013, this analysis does not anticipate an increase in wind industry 

employment in the near term. In fact, reductions in workforce are likely to occur. Assuming a 

resolution of the issues leading to this expected decline by 2014 and continuance on the path 

outlined in the 20% Wind by 2030 scenario, most of those who lost their jobs in 2013 will be 

needed again, as well as almost 2,000 new employees. After that, 12,000 to 14,000 new 

employees per year will be needed from 2015 to 2018. From 2019 through 2027, 8,000 to 9,000 

new employees will be needed per year. Total employment declines for the remaining 3 years 

should occur as projections for new installations in the 20% Wind by 2030 scenario begin to 

taper off. For these final 3 years, the new employees needed are primarily due to attrition 

replacement.

Table 18 breaks down our estimates of the number of new employees that will be needed by year 

and by occupation in the utility-scale wind sector. These estimates account for changes in 

capacity installed per year, attrition due to retirement and people choosing to leave the wind 

industry, and improvements in worker productivity. One can readily see that the largest demand 

is for wind technicians, as the number of technicians will continue to increase each year as the 

cumulative number of turbines installed in the United States grows. Further, many occupations 

are not accounted for in this research (see the last table row). Due to time constraints with our 

employer survey (to reduce respondent fatigue), we attempted to collect information on the most 

common occupations, but many job functions were not included. 

Light blue boxes in Table 18 indicate that no new employees are needed for that occupation 

during that year (in fact, in 2013 it’s expected that many employees will be dismissed). We 

assume that employees laid off in 2013 are rehired in 2014 or 2015, before new employees are 

hired. This is why so few occupations require new employees in 2014. The number needed in 

2015 is still muted due to expected rehiring of employees who lost their jobs in 2013. 

Green boxes in Table 18 represent the high point year of new workers needed. For most 

occupations, this occurs in 2016 when the increase in annual capacity installed is 2 GW above 

the prior year and the previous peak annual installation in 2012. The next 2 years show increases 

in annual capacity installed of 1 GW versus the prior year. After that, the number of new workers 

needed each year declines as only attrition replacement is needed; there are no increases to 

annual capacity installed (it levels out at 16 GW per year). Since productivity increases are built 

into the model as well, not all employees lost due to attrition require replacement. For those 

occupations primarily in the O&M sector, peak hiring occurs in 2019. The decline in the number 

of new employees needed is minimal for these occupations, as they are correlated with 

cumulative installed capacity (which continues to increase). The increase in cumulative installed 

capacity is steady after 2019, and productivity increases cause the slight decline in the number of 

new hires needed. 

 

7 According to a study by Navigant Consulting, half the jobs in the wind industry and hundreds of U.S. factories 

could be lost by the first quarter of 2013 if the Production Tax Credit was allowed to expire on December 31 

(AWEA Press Release; December 21, 2012).
23 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 18. Estimates of Additional Employees Needed by Occupation Per Year

Annual GW Wind Capacity Installed 12 5 10 12 14 15 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 13

Cumulative GW Installed Capacity End of 

Year 59 64 74 86 100 115 131 147 163 179 195 211 227 243 259 275 290 304 317

New Workers Needed 2013-2030

# of 

Current 

Workers 

(2012)

2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028 2029 2030

Admin/clerical 3,160 437 618 434 439 256 253 249 245 242 238 235 231 227 81 71 62

Assembly workers 1,230 81 226 139 138 55 53 51 50 48 47 46 44 43

Attorneys 531 87 106 78 79 50 49 49 48 48 47 47 46 45 22 20 18

Construction laborers 4,056 512 885 594 608 305 302 299 296 293 291 288 285 282

Construction managers 1,050 101 211 136 137 62 61 60 58 57 56 55 54 53

Development finance 1,081 71 199 122 121 48 47 45 44 43 41 40 39 38

Development managers 597 57 120 77 78 35 35 34 33 33 32 31 31 30

Development technical specialists 393 26 72 44 44 17 17 16 16 15 15 15 14 14

Engineers 5,992 1,058 1,363 990 1,023 627 629 632 634 636 638 640 642 644 253 227 201

Government regulatory workers 138 9 25 16 16 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 

Land-leasing agents 212 14 39 24 24 9 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 7 

Managers of sales, operations & training 1,975 200 438 474 414 433 361 364 367 370 372 374 376 378 380 305 293 281

Manufacturing managers 711 68 143 92 93 42 41 40 40 39 38 37 36 36

Manufacturing salespeople 939 62 173 106 105 42 40 39 38 37 36 35 34 33

O&M accountants & bookkeepers 448 88 80 107 122 133 140 144 144 144 144 143 143 142 142 141 137 132 126

Paralegals 72 5 13 8 8 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 

Product designers 1,264 83 233 143 142 56 54 53 51 50 48 47 45 44

Professional trainers 432 28 79 49 49 19 19 18 18 17 16 16 16 15

Professors & teachers 888 58 163 100 100 39 38 37 36 35 34 33 32 31

Research engineers 929 61 171 105 104 41 40 39 38 37 35 34 33 32

Resource assessors & surveyors 652 51 125 78 78 33 32 31 30 30 29 28 27 27

Scientists 1,340 88 247 151 151 60 58 56 54 53 51 50 48 47

Supply chain & purchasing managers 421 28 77 47 47 19 18 18 17 17 16 16 15 15

Trade workers 5,561 533 1,117 718 725 328 322 315 309 303 297 291 285 279

Transportation/logistics workers 844 72 165 104 105 45 44 43 42 41 40 39 39 38

Wind technicians 11,475 1,404 2,312 2,672 3,021 3,194 3,361 3,364 3,363 3,360 3,354 3,345 3,334 3,320 3,304 3,286 3,147 3,009 2,871

Other occupations not covered here 19,341 525 4,016 4,248 3,375 3,480 2,530 2,519 2,507 2,495 2,481 2,466 2,450 2,433 2,415 1,528 1,423 1,320
24 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Estimate Number of Graduates Needed by Degree Type

Table 19 combines our projections for the number of new hires needed with the percentage of 

these new hires that would fulfill employers’ interests in hiring people with wind-specific 

degrees or certification. The last table row shows the totals by certificate or degree type. This 

table outlines how many new hires are needed with these wind-specific degree levels. 

Table 19. New Wind Energy-Specific Credential Programs Needed in the United States 

to Train the Future Wind Workforce

Maximum New Hires Needed with Wind-Specific Degrees/Certificates

Occupation

Maximum 

New 

Employees 

Needed in 

a Year

Year 

This 

Occurs

Post-Secondary 

Professional 

Certificate 

(Journeyman, 

Trade/

Technical 

Programs)

Associate's 

Degree

Bachelor's 

Degree

PostBachelor 

Professional 

Certification 

(e.g., CPA, 

PE, LEED)

Master's 

Degree, 

Ph.D., or 

Law

Admin/clerical 618 2016 23 22 29 1 3 

Assembly workers 226 2016 60 50 - - -

Attorneys 106 2016 - - 0 2 5

Construction laborers 885 2016 - - - - -

Construction managers 211 2016 16 4 29 6 4 

Development finance 199 2016 - 1 6 3 3 

Development 

managers

120 2016 2 - 14 10 10

Development technical 

specialists 72 2016 3 - 19 4 13

Engineers 1,363 2016 11 - 264 75 143

Government regulatory 

workers 25 2016 - - - - - 

Land-leasing agents 39 2016 2 1 7 - -

Managers of sales, 

operations, & training 474 2016 6 6 50 19 41

Manufacturing 

managers

143 2016 5 2 12 1 - 

Manufacturing 

salespeople 173 2016 1 2 18 1 1 

O&M accountants & 

bookkeepers 144 2019 - 1 7 1 1 

Paralegals 13 2016 - 1 1 - - 

Product designers 233 2016 3 - 23 4 8 

Professional trainers 79 2016 10 2 6 2 5 

Professors and 

teachers 163 2016 6 11 8 6 49

Research engineers 171 2016 - - 15 10 61

Resource assessors & 

surveyors 

125 2016 4 7 11 - 11
25 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Maximum New Hires Needed with Wind-Specific Degrees/Certificates

Occupation

Maximum 

New 

Employees 

Needed in 

a Year

Year 

This 

Occurs

Post-Secondary 

Professional 

Certificate 

(Journeyman, 

Trade/

Technical 

Programs)

Associate's 

Degree

Bachelor's 

Degree

PostBachelor 

Professional 

Certification 

(e.g., CPA, 

PE, LEED)

Master's 

Degree, 

Ph.D., or 

Law

Scientists 247 2016 - - 9 5 35

Supply chain & 

purchasing managers 77 2016 1 1 4 0 - 

Trade workers 1,117 2016 282 28 21 - -

Transportation/logistics 

workers 165 2016 - 9 14 2 - 

Wind technicians 3,364 2019 1,526 560 - - - 

Other occupations 4,248 2016 789 286 228 61 159

TOTAL 2,749 996 795 212 553

When attempting to estimate the number of wind-specific degree programs needed to satisfy 

industry demand, we must consider that many graduates choose to enter other industries upon 

graduation. Table 20 details graduates per year by wind-specific degree level, as well as the 

percentage of these graduates who move on to work in wind energy (keeping in mind that 

programs self-reported). While most graduates with wind-specific degrees from community and 

technical colleges do proceed to work in wind energy, the same cannot be said for university 

graduates. We believe a primary reason for this is that the university-level degree programs tend 

to be less focused on wind energy careers. The course work at the university level is broader

(e.g., “Renewable Energy Policy” with a unit on wind power) and allows graduates to pursue 

more career paths. 

Table 20. Percentage of Graduates Entering Wind Industry and 

Number of Graduates Per Program Per Year

Percentage of 

Graduates 

Entering Wind 

Industry

Graduates Per 

Program Per 

Year

Degree/Certificate

Institution 

Type Median Mean Median Mean

Post-secondary professional 

certificate (journeyman, 

trade/technical programs)

Community 

& tech 

colleges

90% 75% 10 17

Associate's degree

Bachelor's degree 

University 10% 15% 12 34

Post-bachelor professional 

certification (e.g., CPA, PE, 

LEED)

Master's degree, Ph.D., or Law
26 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Table 21 shows the progression from the number of desired new hires with a wind energyspecific degree/certification to the number of graduates needed, given that not all graduates enter 

the wind industry. According to our data set, this may be an obstacle for university programs but 

not for community college programs in the future. The final step involves dividing the number of 

graduates needed by the estimated graduating class size to determine the number of educational 

programs needed, assuming that the class sizes remain similar to 2012 class sizes. 

Appendix A explains how we estimated the number of wind-focused programs currently 

available to potential students. With the exception of associate’s degree programs, it appears a 

shortfall exists in currently available training programs relative to projections of industry 

demand. 

Table 21. Calculating Number of Wind Energy-Specific Programs Needed to Fulfill Projected 

Industry Demand (rounded to the nearest 10 with the exception of graduates per year)

Degree/ 

Certificate

Maximum 

New Hires 

Needed with 

WindSpecific 

Degrees/ 

Certificates

Type of 

Institution 

Offering

Estimated 

Percent of 

Graduates 

Entering 

Wind 

Industry8

Number 

Needed to 

Graduate in 

Max Year

Estimated 

Graduates 

Per 

Program 

Per Year9

# of 

Programs 

Needed in 

United 

States*

# of 

Programs 

Currently 

Available Difference

Post-secondary 

professional 

certificate 

(journeyman, 

trade/technical 

programs) 

2,750 

Community 

& tech 

colleges 83% 

3,310 

14 

240 70 170 

Associate's 

degree 1000 

Community 

& tech 

colleges

1,200 90 90 0 

Bachelor's 

degree 800 University 

13% 

6,120 

23 

270 20 250 

Post-bachelor's 

professional 

certification (e.g., 

CPA, PE, LEED)

210 University 1,630 70 NA NA 

Master's degree, 

Ph.D., or Law 550 University 4,250 190 20 170 

* Please see Appendices B and C for scenarios that explain how new employees could be trained without 

such a significant increase in number of programs. 

A few important caveats must be considered for Table 21. The table shows the percentage of 

graduates who entered the wind industry in the recent past based on a relatively small survey of 

educational institutions. Although a small percentage of university graduates with wind-specific 

degrees entered the wind industry in the past year or two, this does not necessarily mean that the 

same percentage will follow suit in the future. If the wind industry needs these graduates, they 

could competitively pursue them. 

Further, one must consider that the average class size provided by each school does not 

necessarily represent the maximum number of people who could graduate from each program. 

 

8 These estimates are the average of the mean and median figures presented in Table 20. 9 Ibid.
27 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

While the potential expansion of class size was not included in our original school survey, we 

followed up with a small collection of university programs to determine whether enrollment in 

these degree programs was at maximum capacity or if additional students could be added without 

significant increases in expenditures. The four universities we discussed this issue with provided 

14 wind-specific degree programs. Of these 14 programs, half claimed that educating additional 

students would require additional resources. The other half claimed that enrollment could 

increase without adding significant additional capital or human resources. Of the seven degree 

programs with available expansion, the schools reported that on average the number of graduates 

could double before significant additional resources would be required (see Appendix B for 

details). 

Thus, if we combine these two factors and adjust our estimates accordingly, we would see that 

the number of additional educational programs required declines drastically relative to what is 

shown in Table 21. While these assumptions clearly reduce the magnitude of the shortfall, a 

shortfall is still apparent between the number of currently available programs and the number 

that will be needed to educate the workforce required to meet wind capacity growth outlined in 

the 20% Wind by 2030 report. Appendix C details this alternate scenario.

Conclusions

Employer Preferences for Wind Energy Training and Education

In most cases, employers rate experience in a relevant occupational field as more important in

the hiring decision than experience in the wind energy industry. Hiring qualified candidates is 

generally considered “somewhat difficult,” as opposed to “very difficult.” The most difficult-tofill positions are professors and teachers, followed by product design engineers. 

Employers require a wide range of educational levels for their new hires. The most commonly 

required level of education is a bachelor's degree, although several occupations require an 

advanced degree. Exceptions to this include trade workers, assembly workers, and wind 

technicians (generally requiring some form of post-high school professional certification) and 

construction laborers (requiring a high school degree or equivalent). 

Employers prefer candidates exposed to some form of wind energy training, but requirements for 

wind-specific professional certification or wind-specific college degrees are not the norm among 

the majority of employers. Wind industry employers only rank energy-specific professional 

certification as somewhat or very important for four occupations: professional trainers, research 

engineers, professors and teachers, and technical specialists. All employers believing it is 

important for wind technicians and assembly workers to hold a college degree feel that this 

degree should be wind energy-specific. Across all occupational classifications, fewer than 50% 

of employers cite a wind energy-specific college degree as “somewhat important” or “very 

important.” 

Availability and Graduation Rates of Wind Workforce Training and 

Educational Programs

A wide variety of program levels are offered, from 1-year post-secondary certificates to Ph.D. 

programs. Many of these programs are newer, and current graduation rates may underestimate 
28 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

their future potential. Our sample did not include training courses that are offered outside of 

educational institutions, such as employer-sponsored short courses that provide field experience.

Associate's degrees and 1-year post-secondary certificates are more likely to definitively prepare 

graduates for work in the wind energy industry, as a high percentage of graduates move on to 

work in wind. University degree programs, including bachelor's degrees and higher, are much 

less likely to see their graduates enter the wind energy workforce. For university-level programs, 

this percentage may appear surprisingly low given that we are focusing on wind energy-specific 

degree programs. But as stated, most of the university degree programs had a broader curriculum 

than the community and technical colleges, which thus enabled graduates to pursue opportunities 

in a variety of industries. 

Women in the Wind Industry

According to our survey, which only captures a segment of the domestic wind industry, women 

comprise approximately 20% of the known wind workforce. The variance across occupations is 

large. Six occupations of the 26 in our survey exhibited a majority of women in their workforce. 

These six included paralegals, admin/clerical, government regulatory workers, operations and 

maintenance accountants/bookkeepers, supply chain/purchasing managers, and development 

finance. The occupations with the lowest female representation were assembly workers, 

construction laborers, transportation/logistics workers, and wind technicians, each with less than 

10%. One note of caution in this section is that according to BW Research staff, companies 

asked about numbers of female employees tend to over-report the number of women working in 

their company (Jordan 2012). 

Growth of the Wind Workforce

Extrapolating the responses to our survey indicates that the wind workforce segment we have 

captured contains approximately 70,000 employees as of 2012. This is an educated assessment of 

the employers included in our research, not the entire U.S. wind industry. Of the workers we 

counted, most are employed in the utility-scale wind sector (~66,000), as opposed to smallerscale commercial wind projects (~3,000). Following the capacity growth described in the 20% 

Wind by 2030 scenario, our methods project that the United States will require a wind industry 

workforce of approximately 105,000 by 2027 (including direct jobs and some supply chain jobs, 

but no induced jobs). In 2016, when the United States is projected to install 16 GW per year, the 

largest number of new hire workers is expected. Additional hires are needed each year to replace 

attrition, as well as for the continued growth of occupations that fall within the O&M sector. The 

number of O&M workers continues to grow as this figure is correlated with cumulative installed 

capacity, as opposed to annual capacity installed. In the long run, the number of new employees 

required each year declines over time as our modeling included anticipated increases in worker 

productivity. 

Growth in Educational Programs Focusing on Wind Energy

For this report, we assumed that the sample data we collected on class size and the transition 

from school to industry are representative of all such educational programs (even though our 

sample was small). To meet the peak demands for an educated and well-trained wind workforce, 

the U.S. wind industry would need hundreds of degree programs focusing on wind energy. Based 

on our estimates, the United States would need approximately 250 to 300 post-secondary 
29 

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National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

professional certification programs, 80 to 120 associate's degree programs, 200 to 250 bachelor's

degree programs, 40 to 80 post-bachelor's professional certification programs, and 125 to 175 

master's level or higher programs. Given the 20% Wind by 2030 scenario, this peak demand for 

new hires generally occurs in 2016 for university graduates and 2019 for community college 

graduates. This number of programs is a sizable increase from what is currently available, with 

the exception of associate’s degree programs. 

Alternative methods to produce enough graduates include increasing the number of students per 

year per program (e.g., increase class size), or in the case of university graduates, developing 

industry-university collaborations that help steer a greater number of qualified graduates into the 

wind industry, such as internships. However, a shortfall would still exist, unless new programs 

are created.

References

American Wind Energy Association. December 21, 2012. “American Wind Families Call on 

Congress to Extend Wind Tax Credit." Accessed March 22, 2012: 

http://www.awea.org/newsroom/pressreleases/All-we-want-for-Christmas-is-Economicsecurity.cfm

Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Wind, Solar - Research Note. March 5, 2012. 17 pp. (by 

subscription only). 

Jordan, Phillip. (August 6, 2012). Personal communication. BW Research, Carlsbad, CA. 

Mihelic, M. (27 August 2012). Personal communication. American Wind Energy Association 

(AWEA), Washington, DC. 

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2012). "Employment Projections: 2010-20 News Release." 

Accessed December 26, 2012: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.htm 

U.S. Department of Energy. (2008). 20% Wind Energy by 2030: Increasing Wind Energy’s 

Contribution to U.S. Electricity Supply. DOE/GO-102008-2578. Golden, CO: National 

Renewable Energy Laboratory. Accessed December 26, 2012: 

http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy08osti/41869.pdf

Windustry. “Where can I find a school or training program specific to renewable energy?” 

Accessed March 1, 2013. http://www.windustry.org/ resources/where-can-i-find-school-ortraining-program-specific-renewable-energy

Wind Energy Education and Training Programs. Wind Powering America. Accessed March 1, 

2013. http://www.windpoweringamerica.gov /schools /education/education_training.asp

Wind Energy Education Programs. American Wind Energy Association. Accessed March 1, 

2013. http://www.awea.org/learnabout/education/AWEA_Academic_Members.cfm
30 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Appendix A: Estimate of U.S. Wind-Specific Degree Programs

Table 22 shows our best estimate of the number of wind-specific programs currently available in 

the United States. We derived this estimate by combining AWEA’s educational program 

database10 with Wind Power America’s educational database,

11 resulting in 202 programs. 

We then compared Windustry’s school program list12 with our list. Of the 37 programs listed by 

Windustry, 35 were also found on our aggregate list (a 95% match). However, it is logical to 

assume that the less-publicized programs would not be included in either of our lists, so we 

chose to lower this coverage factor from 95% to 90%. We then divided the number of programs 

in our list (202) by this 90% coverage factor, which increases our overall count estimate to 224. 

Table 22. Estimate of Number of Current Degree Programs in the United States

Program Count

69 Post-secondary certificate

89 Associate's degree

19 Undergraduate certificate

20 Bachelor's degree

8 Graduate certificate

14 Master's degree

6 Ph.D.

224 Total

 

10 www.awea.org/learnabout/education/AWEA_Academic_Members.cfm 11 www.windpoweringamerica.gov /schools /education/education_training.asp 12 www.windustry.org/ resources/where-can-i-find-school-or-training-program-specific-renewable-energy
31 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Appendix B: Limited Feedback on Potential Class Size Increases

While the potential expansion of class size was not included in our original school survey, we 

followed up with some university programs to determine whether enrollment in these degree 

programs was maxed out or whether additional students could be added without significant 

increases in expenditures. The four universities we conversed with on this issue possessed 14 

wind-specific degree programs.

Table 23. Potential Class Size Increases

Programs for Which 

We Received 

Feedback on 

Expandability

Programs that Can Be 

Expanded without 

Additional Resources

Percentage of 

Programs that Can Be 

Expanded

14 7 50%

Total # of Graduates 

per Year in Classes 

that Could Be 

Expanded

Potential Number of 

Additional Graduates

% Increase in # of 

Graduates

% Programs 

Expandable X 

% Increase in # of 

Graduates

107 120 112% 56%
32 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Appendix C: Alternate Scenario Produces Outcome with Smaller 

Shortfall of Programs

Following Table 21 in the report, we noted two factors that if considered would significantly 

reduce the number of additional wind energy educational programs that would need to be created 

to meet growing industry demand. In Table 24, we show the impact of employing these two 

factors in an alternate projection.

First, we increased the percentage of university graduates that chose to enter the wind industry 

upon graduation. Several factors could generate such an outcome, such as greater strategic 

recruiting by the industry, higher salaries, expanding internship programs, program scholarships 

and more. If we split the difference between the 13% estimate of those entering the wind 

industry among university graduates with the 83% estimate for community and technical 

colleges, we arrive at a 43% placement rate.

If we use the limited data we obtained for the possibility of expanding graduates per program, 

without schools needing to invest significant additional resources (i.e., just fill up empty seats in 

class), we would get a 50% increase in graduates per program per year (from 14 to 21 for 

community/ technical colleges and from 23 to 34 for university programs). 

Table 24 shows the results of using these two alternative inputs. We can see that the number of 

programs required declines drastically relative to what is shown in Table 21. While these 

assumptions clearly reduce the magnitude of the shortfall, a shortfall is still apparent between the 

number of currently available programs and the number that will be needed to educate the 

workforce required to meet wind capacity growth outlined in the 20% Wind by 2030 report. 

Table 24. Calculating Number of Wind Energy-Specific Programs Needed to Fulfill Projected 

Industry Demand (Alternate Scenario)

Degree/ 

Certificate

Maximum 

New Hires 

Needed with 

WindSpecific 

Degrees/ 

Certificates

Type of 

Institution 

Offering

Estimated 

Percent of 

Graduates 

Entering 

Wind 

Industry

Number 

Needed to 

Graduate in 

Max Year

Estimated 

Graduates 

Per 

Program 

Per Year

# of 

Programs 

Needed in 

US

# of 

Programs 

Currently 

Available Difference

Post-secondary 

professional 

certificate 

(journeyman, 

trade/technical 

programs) 

2,750 

Community 

& tech 

colleges 83% 

3,310 

21 

160 70 90 

Associate's 

degree 1,000 

Community 

& tech 

colleges

1,200 60 90 -30 

Bachelor's 

degree 800 University 

48% 

1,660 

34 

50 20 30 

Post-bachelor's 

professional 

certification 

(e.g., CPA, PE, 

LEED)

210 University 440 10 NA NA 

Master's 

degree, Ph.D., 

or Law

550 University 1,150 30 20 10 
33 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Appendix D: BW Research Method for Estimating Today’s Wind Power 

Employees

Note: BW Research provided this explanation. 

Based on the sampling of wind companies conducted in August and September 2012, BW 

Research Partnership estimates that the 15 selected domestic wind industry segments13 employ 

69,126 workers.14 To derive this estimate, BW Research first split the responses into two 

categories – those that reported working with large systems (i.e., utility-scale and large 

commercial wind turbines) and those that were pre-identified by the National Renewable Energy 

Laboratory (NREL) as working with smaller (typically residential) systems.

15 Mean wind 

employment was derived for each category (large = 27.32 workers; small = 13.71 workers). 

In addition to mean employment, BW Research calculated the number of firms in each category. 

For large firms, the initial database (derived from AWEA membership lists, OpenEI, Windustry, 

NREL, and other sources) included 3,023 firms. NREL pre-identified 48 firms for the small firm 

database. A description of each process is detailed below.

Large-Wind Process

To calculate the number of large-wind firms, BW Research calculated several factors to refine 

the database. The first of these, churn, uses a ratio of calls reaching dead air, disconnections, 

fast-busy, wrong number, or no business locations, to the total number of telephone attempts 

made. This rate of 5.65% is then applied to the total firm database of 3,023. 

Next, a “not-in-United States” rate is applied, similar to the above, for all firms that were asked 

the question (in this case, 38 of the 502 firms that reached the screener indicated that they were 

not located in the United States, a rate of 7.57%). This ratio is then applied to the post-churn 

database.

Ninety-one of the 463 respondents (19.65%) reported that their firms do not conduct windrelated activities, which again is applied to the database.

Finally, 30 of the 392 firms that were asked reported that they were small firms (thereby 

terminating) for a rate of 7.65%.16

Once each of these rates is applied, the 3,023 firms are reduced to 2,045 firms that are active, 

domestic, large-wind firms. 

 

13 It is important to note that several industry segments were not included for study, such as government. Other 

firms that are far removed from final goods and services, such as mining, smelting, etc., are also excluded due to 

said firms’ inability to accurately allocate workers supporting the wind energy portions of their business. 14 For the purposes of this memorandum, a “worker” is an employee that spends a majority of his or her time 

supporting the wind portion of the business. This is used as a reasonable proxy for full-time equivalent workers 

(FTEs) but is not interchangeable.

15 Any firms that reported being “small” and were not pre-identified by NREL were terminated. 16 Other factors, such as refusals, are excluded from the churn analysis.
34 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Based on our research in other sectors, including national solar studies, we estimate that the 

original database accounts for approximately 85% of all firms. If this same rate is assumed in the 

current instance, the number of firms that meet the screener definition of a “wind firm” is 2,406. 

When this figure is multiplied by the (question 2) mean wind energy employment of 27.32, the 

result is 65,729 workers.17

Small-Wind Process

With a much smaller sample size, BW Research conducted a churn rate that included all relevant 

screen-outs. In the sample of 48 firms, 42 were attempted by telephone, and six were screenouts, for a total churn rate of 14.29%. This reduces the overall universe to 41 firms. 

In addition to these 41 firms, BW Research added approximately 169 small-wind firms that were 

deleted from the large universe sample for reporting that they worked with small systems. This 

results in 211 total small firms.18 Using the same 85% capture rate assumption, this yields a total 

of 248 small wind firms. 

With a mean wind employment of 13.71 workers19 in the small universe, it is estimated that the 

small-wind universe employs 3,397 wind workers. These 3,397 workers, when added to the 

65,729 workers in the large firm universe, equals 69,126 wind workers in the 15 selected wind 

industry categories.

 

17 A further assumption is made that the 15% of firms not in the database have a similar profile (mean) to the 85% of 

firms included in the database.

18 Due to decimal rounding. 19 This assumes that the firms that screened out of the large sample have a similar profile (mean) to the preidentified firms in the small universe sample.
35 

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National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Appendix E: BW Research Survey

Note: NREL did not edit this survey.
36 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

EL

Wind Skills Assessment

July 28 2012

Version 4.6

NREL Wind Employer Survey – Web Version

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

This research is being conducted on behalf of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, or 

NREL, and the Department of Energy who would value your participation in a brief survey 

about the nation’s wind industry workforce. This is the first attempt to understand the full 

breadth of the wind workforce in a systematic fashion. Your help in this project is the best way 

that we can arrive at a meaningful understanding of the workforce needs of this industry.

Your individual responses will not be published; only aggregated information will be used in 

reporting the survey results.

The survey should take approximately 15 minutes of your time. By answering this survey, you 

can help inform how investments of time and money should be made to support the industry 

and how to prepare the present and future wind energy labor pool based on your needs.

The survey is being hosted by BW Research for NREL.

[Show NREL Logo on Intro Page]

Screener Questions

A. What is the zip code of your current location?

____________________ (Accept all five-digit responses)

Have check box for Refused

B. Is your company involved with an activity related to the wind energy industry? We define 

this as being directly involved with researching, developing, producing, manufacturing, 

distributing or implementing components, goods or services related to wind energy.

 1 Yes [CONTINUE]

 2 No [TERMINATE]

 3 Not sure [TERMINATE]

C. In which of the following wind industry segments does your organization participate?

Check all that apply.

1. Site Identification, Assessment or Pre-Development

2. Project Development: Legal, Real Estate or Finance

3. Project Permitting: Regulatory, Environmental or Wildlife Assessment

4. Manufacturing of Engineered Structures (tower, bedplate, hub) 

5. Manufacturing of Drive Trains (couplings, bearings, gearboxes)

6. Manufacturing of Blades

7. Manufacturing of Power Equipment and Electronics (generators, cables, cooling, lighting, 

etc.)

8. Manufacturing of Sub-components or Materials 
37 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

9. Nacelle Assembly

10. Sales, Distribution or Transport of Wind Energy Products (including OEM sales)

11. On-site Civil Works (roads, foundations, site improvements)

12. On-site Mechanical Assembly (installation of towers or turbines)

13. On-site Electrical Work (substation, collection grid, final grid connection)

14. Operations and Maintenance

15. Education, Training or Research

[ASK SCREENER D IF MORE THAN ONE SELECTED AT SCREENER C]

D. Which do you consider your organization’s primary focus as it relates to the wind industry? 

[PIPE IN RESPONSES SELECTED AT SCREENER C, ACCEPT ONE]

1. Site Identification, Assessment or Pre-Development

2. Project Development: Legal, Real Estate or Finance

3. Project Permitting: Regulatory, Environmental or Wildlife Assessment

4. Manufacturing of Engineered Structures (tower, bedplate, hub) 

5. Manufacturing of Drive Trains (couplings, bearings, gearboxes)

6. Manufacturing of Blades

7. Manufacturing of Power Equipment and Electronics (generators, cables, cooling, lighting, 

etc.)

8. Manufacturing of Sub-components or Materials 

9. Nacelle Assembly.

10. Sales, Distribution or Transport of Wind Energy Products (including OEM sales)

11. On-site Civil Works (roads, foundations, site improvements)

12. On-site Mechanical Assembly (installation of towers or turbines)

13. On-site Electrical Work (substation, collection grid, final grid connection)

14. Operations and Maintenance

15. Education, Training or Research

E. What size systems does your firm typically work with? (do NOT ask for response 15 Question D)

Please choose one.

 1 Residential or Small commercial

 2 Large commercial or Utility-scale

3 Don’t know/ Refused

F. How many business locations does your firm have in the U.S. that conduct wind activities?

IF Screener F > 1 or Refused, ask Screener G 

G. Do you feel comfortable answering questions about the hiring and staffing needs of all of 

your firm’s locations or just your current location?

 1 All locations [CONTINUE]

 2 Only my location [CONTINUE[ – Please provide us with the email address of someone at 

your firm who is able to answer questions about hiring and staffing at other locations so 

that we can send him or her a survey.

 Collect Email: _________ 
38 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

 3 No - Please provide us with the email address of someone at your firm who is able to 

answer questions about hiring and staffing at your firm so that we can send him or her a 

survey.

 Collect Email: _________ 

IF Screener G = 1 , state: “For the purposes of this survey, the term “firm” shall refer to all of 

your U.S. business locations.

If Screener G = 2 or Screener F=1, state “For the purposes of this survey, the term “firm” shall 

refer to your current business location only”

If Screener G = 3, terminate

`````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

SECTION 1 - Firm Profile 

1. Including all full-time and part-time employees, how many permanent employees work at 

your firm?

 Record # of employees ___________

 

 Have check box for Refused

IF q1=0 Skip q2 and ask q3. Then Skip q4 thru q10

2. If you currently have [TAKE Q1 #] full-time and part-time permanent employees at your 

firm, how many of these workers, spend at least 50% of their work time, supporting the 

wind energy portion of your business? 

 Record # of employees ___________

 

 Have check box for Refused

[Q2 SHOULD BE LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO Q1 - BUILD IN CHECK]

3. How many temporary workers do you have at your firm that spend at least 50% of their 

work time supporting the wind energy portion of your business?

Record # of employees ___________

 

 Have check box for Refused

[IF MORE WIND ENERGY WORKERS THAN LAST YEAR (Q3>Q4) Ask Section 2, Otherwise Skip 

to Section 3]

SECTION 2 – Workforce Development and Training Needs

Occupation-Related Questions 

[NOTE - PLEASE COMMUNICATE TO RESPONDENT THAT WE WILL BE USING GENERAL 

OCCUPATIONAL TITLES RATHER THAN SPECIFIC JOB TITLES THAT MAY BE USED WITHIN 

EACH ORGANIZATION]
39 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

4. 8.4. The next section of the survey will ask about the occupations within your 

organization. The occupational titles we are using may differ from the specific position titles 

used in your organization. For these questions, please try to equate your organization’s 

specific position titles with the more general ones we will use here. 

Please only assign one occupation to each employee. If they fall into more than one 

category, please assign them to the occupation in which they devote more of their time.

Does your firm employ individuals in positions matching the following general occupational 

titles? 

(1 = Yes, 2 = No, 3 =DK/NA)

** After Screener D create a new variable titled sdprime. If only one choice selected at Screener 

C, sdprime= Screener C choice, If multiple choices at Screener D, sdprime=Screener D choice **

sdprime Occupation Title Occ # in the data

14 Accountant or bookkeeper 1

2 Accountant, loan specialist or finance officer 2

1

Admin/ Clerical 3

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

3 Archaeologist 4

2

Attorney 10 5

14

3 Biologist 6

3 Civil Engineer 7

11

12 Construction laborers 8

13

1 Construction manager/Land Acquisition 9

3 Electrical Engineer 10

1

Engineer 11 2

10

12
40 

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National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

13

14

11

4

Engineers and product designers 12

5

6

7

8

9

4

First line managers (including ES&H) 13

5

6

7

8

9

3 Government Regulatory Workers 14

11

12 Heavy equipment operators (including cranes) 15

13

2 Land Leasing Agent 16

10 Logistics technician 17

14 Management 18 15

10 Manager 19

2 Paralegal 20

15 Professional trainer 21

15 Professor, teacher or educator 22

2 Project Management 23

11

12 Project managers 24

13

15 Research engineer 25

1 Resource Assessment Analyst 26

4

Salesperson 27

5

6

7

8

9

10

1 Scientist/biologist 28

4

Supply chain managers/purchasing 29

5

6

7

8

9

11 Surveyors 30

2 Technical Specialist 31
41 

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at www.nrel.gov/publications.

12 Technician 32

14

7 Technicians and Assembly Workers 33 9

4

Trade workers and specialists 34

5

6

7

8

9

11

12

13 Trade workers and specialists, including electricians

10 Transportation workers 35

5. Thinking about the wind energy portion of your business, how many individuals do you have 

at your firm that are currently employed either full-time, part-time or temporarily in each 

occupation? 

 A Occupation 1 #### (Record Number)

 B Occupation 2 #### (Record Number)

 C Occupation 3 #### (Record Number)

 D Occupation 4 #### (Record Number)

CONTINUE FOR AS MANY OCCUPATIONS IN EACH CATEGORY

[CREATE INTERNAL CONTROL SO THAT THE COMBINED OCCUPATIONAL EMPLOYMENT IS NOT 

MORE THAN OVERALL WIND FOCUSED EMPLOYMENT Q2 +Q3]

6. Please indicate the level of difficulty your firm has in finding qualified applicants who 

meet the organization’s hiring standards. Don’t

 No Some Great know/

 difficulty difficulty difficulty Refused 

A. Occupation 1........................................................................ 1 2 3 4 

Occupation 2 .............................................................................. 1 2 3 4 

Occupation 3 .............................................................................. 1 2 3 4 

Occupation 4 .............................................................................. 1 2 3 4 

7. For each of the following occupations, please select the preferred educational attainment 

for new hires.

1 High school diploma or less

2 Post secondary professional certificate (journeyman, trade/technical programs)

3 Associate Degree

4 Bachelor Degree

5 Post Bachelor professional certification (examples: CPA, PE, LEED)

6 Master Degree, PhD or Law
42 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

8. Thinking about the different types of [pipe in occupation] that work in the wind 

energy portions of your business, do any of these individuals require the following 

skills sets or educational certifications, and if so are they somewhat important or 

very important? 

RANDOMIZE Don’t

 No, this Somewhat Very know/

 Is Not Needed Important Important Refused 

A. Prior work experience in a related field

B. Prior work experience specifically in Wind Energy ...... 1 2 3 4 

C. Wind Energy specific training (including courses, workshops, conferences, etc)

D. Professional Certification in their occupation

E. Wind Energy specific Professional Certification ........... 1 2 3 4 

...................................................... 1 2 3 4 

F. College Degree

G. Wind Energy specific college degree............................ 1 2 3 4 

9. For each of the following occupations, please provide any specific training credentials that 

you deem valuable.

[open end]

10.For each of the following occupations, how many of the [pipe in q5] are women?

Record # of women ___________

SECTION 3 – Revenue Question

11.Approximately how much of your firm’s work, in terms of total revenue, is related to 

wind energy products or services?

 1 All of it (100%)

 2 Half to most of it (50% to 99%)

 3 A quarter but less than half of it (25% to 49%)

 4 Less than a quarter (1% to 24%)

 5 Don’t know/ Refused

SECTION 4 – Installation Questions

NREL truly appreciates your assistance in answering all the previous questions related to 

assessing your wind energy workforce. The purpose of the next question is to help us correlate 

how many employees are needed for different levels of Wind Energy production. Please 

provide your best estimate.

Ask Q12 of those responding 1,2,3,10,11,12,13,14 from Screener Question D

12.How many megawatts (MW) or kilowatts (kW) of Wind Energy, or Wind Energy 

systems, has your firm developed, evaluated, sold, or installed of over the last 12 

months?

Record __________ 

 Have check box for Refused
43 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Ask Q13 of those responding 15 from Screener Question D

13.How many people were educated or trained in Wind Energy by your firm or 

institution over the last 12 months? 

i. Record __________ 

ii. Have check box for Don’t know/Refused [IF THAT IS CHECKED 

BRING UP INTERVAL ESTIMATE]

a. 1 to 49

b. 50 to 249

c. 250 to 499

d. 500 to 999

e. 1,000 or more

 

14.If your firm were selected to provide goods or services for a newly planned, 100 MW 

wind farm, how many total employees would contribute labor hours to the project? 

 

Record __________

Ask Q15 of those responding 4,5,6,7,8,9 from Screener Question D

15.Thinking of an average (for example, 2.0 MW) wind turbine, how many labor hours 

of work at your firm is attributed to producing the components necessary for one 

wind turbine?

 

Record __________

SECTION 5 – Permission Questions

16.Are you interested in receiving future information about the findings of this research? 

 1 Yes

 2 No 

17.Would you be willing to be contacted by educators and researchers to participate in a 

follow-up interview regarding this research?

 1 Yes

 2 No 

18.Would you like to have your name included into our raffle drawing for a chance to win an 

iPad 3?

1. Yes

2. No 
44 

This report is available at no cost from the 

National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) 

at www.nrel.gov/publications.

Thank you for completing the survey. Since it sometimes becomes necessary for the project 

manager to confirm responses to certain questions, please verify your contact information. 

This information will also be used to ensure that we do not call you as part of our telephone 

survey effort for this project.

A. First and Last Name___________________

B. Position__________________________

C. Phone_____________

D. Email ______________

E. Company Name___________________

F. Company Address ___________________

G. Company City ___________________

H. Company State ___________________

I. Company Zip ___________________

Thank you very much for your time.

J. Survey Date___________________

K. Survey Time___________________