Wind turbine technician jobs must reach 628,000 worldwide by 2030
A wind turbine technician is the worker who climbs a turbine tower to build it, inspect it and keep it running. Wind turbine technician jobs are set to grow fast worldwide, from about 475,000 people employed today to 628,000 needed by 2030, according to the sixth edition of the Global Wind Workforce Outlook, a report published December 4 2025 by the Global Wind Organisation and the Global Wind Energy Council, 2 groups that track training and safety across the wind industry. That gap, more than 150,000 additional technicians, has to be filled through new hiring and training in the next 4 years.
A year earlier, the fifth edition of the same report put the number needed by 2028 at over 532,000, so the industry own estimate for a later target year rose between its 2 most recent editions.
Both figures are from the same report, published December 4 2025. This chart does not use the report own around 50% growth framing, which does not arithmetically match these 2 counts.
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| Employed globally today | 475,000 |
| Needed by 2030 | 628,000 |
The report own growth math does not add up
The same release separately says demand will increase by around 50% over the 5 years to 2030, but that does not match its own 2 counts. A 50% rise on 475,000 technicians would be 712,500, not 628,000. MAOWCE calculates the real increase between the report own 2 figures at about 32%, a subtraction this publication performed, not a number the report itself states. Reading the full release rather than repeating its headline number is what surfaces the gap.
Jakob Lau Holst, chief executive of the Global Wind Organisation, said workforce planning is being neglected.
Local workforce readiness is often overlooked in energy transition planning.
Jakob Lau Holst, chief executive of the Global Wind Organisation. Source 1.
Ben Backwell, chief executive of the Global Wind Energy Council, called for coordinated action.
There must be urgent action to address the workforce shortage and scale up installation capability, with collaboration between government and industry crucial to delivering on this.
Ben Backwell, chief executive of the Global Wind Energy Council. Source 1.
United States wind turbine technician jobs are projected to grow 30% by 2035
In the United States, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects wind turbine technician jobs will grow 30% from 2025 to 2035, rising from 11,800 positions to 15,300, about 1,500 new openings a year on average. Median pay for the job was 64,120 dollars a year as of May 2025, above the 50,980 dollar median across all United States jobs. The typical way in is a postsecondary nondegree award, a certificate program shorter than a 2 year degree, followed by employer training on the specific turbines a worker will service.
Figures are the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics own current projection, from a page last modified August 27 2026.
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| Positions in 2025 | 11,800 |
| Positions in 2035 | 15,300 |
The American Clean Power Association, the trade group for the United States wind industry, says wind farms already support 383,000 jobs nationwide, counting direct, indirect and induced positions.
Training programs are racing to catch up
The American Clean Power Association and the Global Wind Organisation created the ACP Entry Level Wind Technician Guidelines in 2023 to standardize how new technicians are trained. By mid 2026 the groups had finished testing 2 new training modules, covering high voltage T connector installation and transformer maintenance, with a full release planned later in the year.
Matt Riding, chief commercial officer at Atlas NextWave, a wind workforce training company, said training has to move faster.
Competence standards must evolve across a wider range of roles, and entry pathways must become faster and more accessible, especially in regions with high potential but limited training infrastructure.
Matt Riding, chief commercial officer at Atlas NextWave, a wind workforce training company. Source 1.