Europe’s wind energy industry is set to see steady employment growth over the remainder of the decade, with the workforce expected to increase from 443,000 jobs today to more than 600,000 by 2030, according to the European Wind Energy Workforce Report published by WindEurope.

The report forecasts that the sector will provide 607,000 jobs by 2030, assuming average annual installations of 30 GW between 2025 and 2030, in line with WindEurope’s latest 2030 Outlook. WindEurope says the industry continues to play a key role in driving economic growth, energy security and industrial development across Europe.

According to the report, the wind energy sector currently supports 443,000 jobs, of which 211,000 are direct roles across wind farm development, manufacturing, installation, operation and decommissioning. While onshore wind remains the largest employer, offshore wind is gaining ground and now accounts for 20% of direct employment, WindEurope notes.

The report also highlights the strong industrial footprint of wind energy in Europe. Nearly half of all direct wind jobs are in manufacturing, supported by more than 250 factories producing turbines and grid connection equipment across the continent. WindEurope says the industry has invested more than €14 billion in new or expanded manufacturing facilities over the past two years.

Despite this growth, WindEurope warns that wind energy expansion in Europe remains below target. The organisation estimates that the EU will reach 344 GW of installed wind capacity by 2030, falling short of its 425 GW target. Persistent bottlenecks include complex permitting procedures, insufficient grid build-out, slow electrification and shortcomings in national auction design, according to the report.

WindEurope also flags growing skills shortages as a major challenge for the sector. The report identifies 235 job profiles across the wind energy value chain and highlights critical gaps, particularly for blade technicians, field engineers and pre-assembly technicians. WindEurope estimates that 7,000 blade technicians, 6,500 field engineers and 5,000 pre-assembly technicians will be needed before 2030.

To address these shortages, WindEurope calls for a more strategic approach to workforce planning, including scaling up vocational education and training programmes, encouraging retraining from other sectors, harmonising certifications and promoting EU-wide skills mobility. The organisation notes that eight out of ten critical roles facing the largest shortages rely on vocational education and training.

As part of its response, WindEurope announced it will launch a Workforce Development Tool to help users analyse workforce data by country, lifecycle phase and job profile. According to the organisation, the tool is designed to support better planning of training needs and investment, and to help establish new training centres where they are most needed.