Examining Renewable Energy Transitions: A Tool to Enhance Workforce Development
As states across the U.S. continue to undergo a vast and seemingly inevitable energy transition (e.g., fossil fuels to renewables), one understudied challenge is ensuring that there is a workforce prepared for this structural shift. This brief investigates one approach to address this challenge through the use of a quantitative mapping tool that facilitates the transition of workers in declining energy occupations to emerging ones. Using secondary data, this brief overviews a technique to better understand the skills gaps and wage gaps associated with energy workforce transitions. Overall, having a higher and more granular comprehension of career pathways into evolving energy jobs can assist practitioners and politicians with program and policy initiatives to strengthen workforce development efforts.