Traditional craftsmen often lack skills needed in wind and solar industry – report

Germany needs more targeted training for traditional craftsmen and other existing skilled workers to give them the expertise they need to work in the solar and wind power industry, said a report by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, one of the country's biggest foundations. Bertelsmann analysed 2.7 million job postings for these industries. They found that the "similarity value" of the skills required to work in the solar industry compared to traditional fields of work was 0.85 on average. If the skills were exactly the same for both types of employment, the value would be 1.

Roofers, for example, played a key role in the energy transition. However, those "who have masterfully covered single-family homes with roof tiles and made factory roofs weatherproof are not automatically qualified to install photovoltaic systems," explained Bertelsmann in a press release. In the solar industry, specific skills are expected above all from specialists in roofing and plumbing, as well as heating and air conditioning technology. In the wind industry, specific skills are expected from professionals in the fields of electronics and mechatronics, the foundation said.

"The significant differences in skill requirements within an occupation show that looking at the number of workers alone is not enough,” Jana Fingerhut, project manager at Bertelsmann, said. "We don't just need more skilled workers," she added. Unlike craftsmen, the necessary skills in jobs for which a master’s degree is needed do not differ much in the wind and solar industries versus other sectors in the economy, said the report. 

In the coming years, Germany is expected to face a severe shortage of the skilled workers needed to implement the transition to climate neutrality by 2045. A lack of workers could slow progress across many sectors, including energy and electrical engineering, construction services and architecture, mechanical and automotive engineering and computer science.