New findings: Discussion of the Jobmonitor results with experts from wind and solar

Discussion about Jobmonitor results

Representatives of the leading federal associations for renewable energies, wind and solar energy companies as well as guilds from the fields of electrical engineering and sanitary, heating and air conditioning technology discussed the results of occupational and skills analyses from the Jobmonitor.

Previously unpublished analyses of the skills in demand in the wind and solar industry were contextualizied by the energy transition experts. At the beginning of the workshop, the German Economic Institute presented the results of the skills analysis of three million online job advertisements for 13 key professions in the wind and solar energy sector. These include professions such as HVAC plant mechanic, solar technician and wind energy technician. To analyze the skills, an algorithm was developed together with the company &effect that can extract almost 8,000 professional skills from the online job advertisements. This can be used, for example, to analyze which skills are most in demand or which skills are specifically required for the wind and solar energy sector compared to other industries in the individual professions. Our subsequent questions to practitioners were: Do the results seem plausible? Which of the analyses are helpful and can improve the qualification of skilled workers? What are the current issues facing the industry in terms of securing skilled workers?

Practical check supplements study results

During a gallery walk, participants were able to view the skills analyses for selected professions and comment on them using key questions. This was followed by a World Café to discuss overarching questions. The participants took an active part in the exchange formats. It became clear that the Jobmonitor’s analyses largely reflect reality. A few of our open questions that arose from the data were clarified with the help of the experts. One question, for example, was: Why do we find very few job advertisements for helpers in the solar and wind sector? However, it also became clear during the discussions that there is still room for improvement in the analyses. For some skills, for example, it is not immediately clear what exactly is behind them. The experts also wanted analyses of the required professional and academic qualifications as well as consideration of the possibilities of lateral entry.

The workshop provided a good opportunity to supplement our analysis results with the practical perspective. The feedback from participants is currently being incorporated into a study on skills in the wind and solar sector, which will be published soon. If you don’t want to miss the study and further analyses of online job advertisements, follow the Jobmonitor on LinkedIn.