Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Current State and Challenges of Renewable Energy Employment in Poland

Olga Pilipczuk

Institute of Management, University of Szczecin, Cukrowa 8, 71-004 Szczecin, Poland

Energies 2024, 17(24), 6432; https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246432

Submission received: 28 October 2024 / Revised: 2 December 2024 / Accepted: 11 December 2024 / Published: 20 December 2024

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Future Prospects for Renewable Energy Applications)

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Abstract

This research studies the current changes in Polish renewable resources employment and Poland’s position in rankings in comparison to European countries. The research aims to define the actual situation and the future perspectives of renewable energy sources (RES) employment in Poland. Several key research problems were formulated: What are the main directions of employment development in the Polish energy sector? How is employment changing in Poland? What are the forecasts for the Polish RES labor market? What are the main tendencies in competencies changing? The research was made by means of literature study and statistical analysis. Particular attention was paid to comparing RES employment in Poland and Germany. The research reveals the high position of Poland in total EU RES employment and the optimistic perspectives for the labor market development, despite the many challenges defined. It was concluded that the Polish education systems need to adapt rapidly to the demand of the energy market and continue to broaden the sustainable and renewable energy perspective to prepare a workforce capable of supporting a greener future.

Keywords:

renewable energy; employment; Poland; Germany; labor market

1. Introduction

Human capital plays an essential role in the energy industry and will continue this tendency in the near future. Renewable energy jobs have almost doubled in the last 10 years [1]. The global renewable energy sector employed 13.7 million people directly as well as indirectly in 2022. It reached a jump of 1 million in just the last 12 months despite the lingering effects of COVID-19 and the growing energy crisis, according to a new annual review published by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in collaboration with the UN’s International Labour Organization (ILO) [2]. Analyzing employment data, it is easy to observe an increasing upward trend. In 2021–2022, the increase amounted to as much as 1 million jobs. In previous years, this trend was smaller and amounted to about 500–700 thousand jobs [3].

Moreover, according to IRENA, the renewable energy sector has the potential to generate up to a whopping 42 million jobs worldwide by 2050 [2]. This means that employment in renewable energy should increase fourfold by 2050. Around 75% of new jobs will be created in the wind and photovoltaic sectors [4].

The report shows that two-thirds of countries in Asia creating jobs in the renewables sector [2]. Southeast Asian countries are becoming leaders in solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing and biofuel production [4]. China is creating more than 5 million jobs, becoming the country with the highest number of renewable energy-related jobs. In comparison 1.53 million jobs were located in the European Union, 1.4—in Brazil, 994 thousand in USA and 988 thousand in India [2]. According to the IRENA’s report, China accounts for 42% of the world’s total employment followed by the EU and Brazil with 10% each [2]. The United States and India count 7% each [2].

Due to rapid changes in the energy market, the world faces a significant and widening green skills gap.

One of the biggest worldwide challenges is that the universities still educate a larger group of students in fossil fuels industry (68% of all the world’s energy educational degrees) than in renewable energy (only 32%). Taking into consideration the current rate of change, university degrees in renewable energy will reach 100% as far as in 2107 [5].

The IRENA’s report also highlights the increasing role of Poland in the European green energy jobs market. For example, Poland was mentioned as the country with the highest employment in Europe in photovoltaic energy [2].

Around 113,000 jobs related to solar energy were created in Poland in 2021 [6]. This is more than in Germany, Spain, or the Netherlands. Poland took the lead as the largest market for jobs related to photovoltaics in the entire European Union. That is 24% of the workforce in the EU’s PV industry [6].

The Polish 2050 Draft Energy Policy from 2016 included three development scenarios. Due to this fact it was difficult to predict the exact amount of future employment in the sector [7].

The nuclear scenario assumed a dominant share of nuclear energy in the country’s energy balance. The gas and RES scenario assumed a share of natural gas and renewable energy sources in the primary energy balance at a total level of approx. 50–55%.

The sustainable scenario also was taken into consideration. However, the Council of Ministers approved the “Energy Policy of Poland until 2040” in 2021, according to which more than half of the installed capacity will be zero-emission sources. Will be two strategic new areas and industries offshore wind and nuclear energy. This is a chance to develop specialized staff skills, and create new jobs [8].

According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency, Poland already have over 212,000 specialists employed, which gives Poland the second place among EU countries.

In addition, the level of application of modern technologies in jobs in the energy sector is growing consequently. With the growth of investment in RES and modern technological solutions, the demand for qualified employees is growing. Knowledge of the employment structure in the Polish energy sector and its main trends helps in developing a concept for education frameworks in professions related to renewable energy.

This paper aims to define the actual situation on the Polish RES labor market, to find the main tendencies and challenges as well as establish the Polish position in European rankings. It gives the justification for designating directions of education programs at universities and energy enterprises in Poland.

The following key research questions were formulated:

Q1: What is Poland’s position in RES employment compared to other countries?
Q2: How did the structure of RES employment change in Poland in 2017–2022?
Q3: What are the forecasts for Polish RES employment?
Q4: What are the main tendencies in competencies changing?

The hypothesis was defined as follows: the changes in RES development influence the changes in RES employment and competencies in Poland.

The research was conducted using the systematic literature review method, visual information presentation, descriptive statistics, and ranking.

Furthermore, the article presents the results of the study on the employment structure, Poland’s position in European rankings and a comparison of employment to other European countries, with particular emphasis on Germany as the leader in many RES employment European rankings.

2. Related Work

As a result of the development of the RES sector, the number of scientific studies analyzing the situation of the renewable energy market in Poland is increasing. The forecasts for the job market are very optimistic. According to the analysis of the Jagiellonian Institute, investments related to the reconstruction of the Polish electricity generation mix may translate into approximately 616 thousand new jobs in the horizon of 2050. The energy transformation of Poland may bring 616 thousand new jobs and make Poles draw energy in 68% from Renewable Energy Sources in 2050 [9].

A considerable number of articles have been written describing the changes in RES labor market and the transformation of many professions in this sector.

The search based on employment statistics from 2009 to 2018 was made by Wysocka M. in 2023 [10]. A literature review revealed the impact of renewable energy sources on job creation. Among all the EU member states, Germany was the leader in the total number of people employed in the renewable energy sector. In 2018, they ranked the highest in total employment, as well as in energy production from biomass, wind, PV, biogas, and waste. The research also revealed a positive correlation between the number of employed in RES and the activity rate, as well as the employment rate while displaying a negative correlation with the unemployment rate [10].

The authors of [11] estimated the trends and spatial diversification of “green employment” in Poland. The results revealed the most attractive regions for green job creation.

In 2018, the authors of paper [12] assessed the job-creating potential of renewable energy sector development and its macroeconomic effects on the labor market in Poland. The paper focuses primarily on wind power stations and solid biomass. The employment was assessed in relation to installed capacity in Poland. The authors demonstrated that it was higher than the average in the EU. There is considerable potential for growth in revenues from renewable energy production (for example from income tax) and increasing employment in this sector.

In the paper [13], P. Grandziuk analyzed the impact of the renewable energy sector on employment in Poland. The research reveals that the renewable energy sources sector creates diverse jobs in production, services, and construction, requiring a variety of qualifications and skills. Its development not only increases but also improves the quality of jobs in the industry. The author states that if the renewable energy sector continues to develop as assumed, the demand for employees in this industry will more than double by 2030.

The study of Kacprzak et al. explores the impact of obtaining energy from renewable sources on the labor market in Poland [14]. The study was based on data acquired from the Central Statistical Office, Eurostat, and EurObserv’ER databases. The authors highlighted that in the period of analysis, the number of employees in the RES sector increased from 36.8 thousand to 110.8 thousand.

In the paper [15], the authors analyzed the employment structure in the energy sector in Poland and attempted to identify and create a competency profile. The authors highlighted that experts believe that the development of the RES industry is a terrific opportunity for the Polish economy. They have found that the development of the energy sector is correlated with the growing demand for employees with specific competencies.

In the paper [16], the holistic energy manager skill model with a focus on emerging technologies was presented. The job offers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Poland were analyzed using the theoretical and practical approaches.

The research of Kurek, Heijman et al. [17] aims to find out if the local employment structure changes while using geothermal resources. The authors checked if geothermal resource utilization leads to an increase in employment in the service sector at the municipality level.

To summarize the Polish literature overview from 2011 to 2021, steady growth in renewable energy generation can be observed [18]. Moreover, the Polish government plans to significantly increase the share of wind energy and nuclear power in Poland’s electricity production by 2040.

It could be concluded that the research on RES employment in Poland is generally divided into three main directions: the state and tendencies of the RES labor market, the impact of renewable energy sources on generating jobs and the competence’s changes.

3. Materials and Methods

The research was conducted in May 2024 according to the following procedure.

First, data on employment were acquired. The following databases were studied: the Statista database [19], the IRENA database [20], and the EurObserv’ER database [21].

After that, the data analysis was conducted: the Poland position in RES employment was identified, the employment ratio was calculated, and the leading EU countries were identified.

Next, the comparison between German and Polish RES employment has been made.

At the last stage of the research, the literature has been studied to identify the current and future competencies in energy industry requirement.

After that, the results were discussed, and the main findings were presented.

The conclusions and future research perspectives, as well as the implications, were analyzed.

4. Results

4.1. Q1: Poland’s in the RES Employment

To compare Polish employment to other countries, the IRENA report has been used (Table 1).

Analyzing Poland’s position in terms of employment in RES in relation to the world, the European Union, and China (as the country with the largest number of people employed in the RES), it could be noticed that Poland’s share of total employment in relation to the European Union was, in 2022, as much as 13.06% (Figure 1). In relation to employment in China, this value was 3.80%, and in relation to the whole world, as much as 1.55%.

Analyzing the RES employment structure by technology (Figure 2), it is clear that Poland’s position in relation to the EU is more noticeable, especially in the areas of photovoltaic, CSP (concentrated solar power), solar heating, and biofuels. The lowest values occur in hydropower employment (Figure 2).

Geothermal energy and wind power are also weak areas in Polish RES employment. A great result was noticed in CSP, which was 0.54% of European employment. Compared to China, Poland recorded a high position in employment in the biofuels and solid biomass sectors.

In terms of overall employment in the RES sector based on EurObserv’ER data, Poland has been ranked fifth, after Germany, France, Spain, and Italy in 2022 (Figure 3).

Table 2 shows how Poland ranks in relation to other EU countries. The most significant rank change can be observed in 2021. It concerns the increasing employment in geothermal energy, municipal waste, and biofuels as well as decreasing in the hydropower sector.

According to IRENA annual review 2023 Polish solar PV sector counted 113,000 jobs in 2021. It gave Poland the three leading positions in RES employment among EU countries in 2021, and one first and two second positions in 2022 (Figure 4). The last two years have brought great growth in employment in the geothermal sector.

To eliminate the influence of the difference in the labor force among countries, the above-mentioned data were considered under the following employment-to-labor force ratio

E_{r}

E_{r} = \frac{E_{r e s}}{L F} * 100 %

(1)

Thus, if one considers employment data (Figure 3) in relation to the labor force of each country, Poland’s position is moving towards increasing its share and it takes 13th place (Figure 5). An interesting case is that of such small countries as Latvia, Estonia, Denmark, Lithuania, and Malta, which are in the top five in terms of employment in the RES sector.

At the next stage of the research, the RES history trends in Poland were compared with the Germany as the country which occupy leading positions according to data from Figure 3. Germany (with 84.3 million inhabitants) is the largest economy in the European Union (EU) and, after the USA, China, and Japan, is the world’s fourth-largest economy [22]. The similarity of the development of the Polish RES sector to the general European model was also assessed. The reason was also the geographical similarity/proximity and renewable energy generation tendencies similarities.

The analysis was performed based on models generated analysis was using OurWorldInData tool [23]. Based on the data on renewable energy generation, the similarity in tendencies between Poland and Germany was found, especially in the area of wind and hydropower resources [23]. There were not high increments in this energy resources generation. Solar and wind energy generation in Poland starts about 10 years later than in Germany and the average in the EU. Similarly, like Germany, Poland started to generate other renewables including bioenergy around 2000–2004.

Figure 5. RES employment/labor force in percentage in 2022. Source: own preparation based on [21,24].

The Polish model of solar energy development differs significantly from the German and European models, primarily in the period of inception [23]. In the EU and Germany, investments were introduced gradually, which could allow for the adjustment of the labor market and employee skills. On the other hand, the rapid growth from 2018 of photovoltaic installations in Poland resulted in the requirement for rapid adjustment and acquisition of new employee skills.

Furthermore, comparing the Polish and German models with a common European model the trends similarities could be noticed, as well as the difference occurred in energy generation (TWh) in hydropower energy.

At the next step, the RES employment in Poland and Germany were compared. Table 3 contains the data acquired from the EurObserv’ER database.

The Figure 6 presents the visualization of RES employment from 2017 to 2022 in Germany and Poland.

According to data acquired from World Bank [24] the labor force employment in Poland in 2022 was at the level of 16,873,000 people and in Germany it was appropriately 46,012,000 people.

Figure 7 shows the tendency of the employment

E_{r e s}

ratio in Poland and Germany. In 2022, there were 387,000 people employed in Germany’s renewable sector [25,26]. It could be observed that from 2017 to 2019 Germany had a higher

E_{r e s}

ratio than Poland. The situation changed in 2021, given that Poland has the better position in RES employment. In Germany, decreasing employment could be observed from 2017 to 2019, as well as a return to the upward tendency from 2020. The high value obtained in 2017 was only reached again in 2022. Thus, it could be said that taking into account the employment ratio, for two years Poland has been employing proportionally more workers in the RES sector than Germany. This tendency is upward.

Starting from 0.26% in 2017 to 0.03% in 2022, the employment ratio proportion tended to be balanced (Figure 8).

Figure 9 presents the employment ratio in Poland vs. Germany by technology. Germany employed significantly more in the renewable municipal waste and hydropower sectors. In Poland, employment was much higher in the biofuels, solid biomass, and geothermal sectors.

4.2. Q2: The Structure and Changes of RES Employment in Poland in 2017–2022

After analyzing Poland against the background of other countries, the next step was to analyze the employment structure in the Polish RES sector in individual years and create trends for each resource (Table 4). The tendencies in timeline changes show the stable growth of employment in photovoltaic area as well as in heat pumps. Variable growth was noticed in the case of solid biomass, wind power, and geothermal energy (Table 4). Variable trends were noted for solar thermal energy and biogas, and municipal waste. Biofuels and hydropower, on the other hand, recorded declines in employment.

The total RES employment in Poland from 2017 to 2022 has an upward tendency (Figure 10). In Figure 10, a polynomial trend line with a two-year forecast indicates future values.

Figure 11 presents the structure of changes in RES employment.

Employment in the photovoltaic sector is still growing. There has also been a gradual increase in employment in heat pumps. Employment in the wind power sector has been quite variable. The trend in hydropower employment is also unstable.

In the next step, statistics were analyzed based on the data presented in Table 4. The analysis shows that the lowest employment among all periods occurred in municipal waste and geothermal resources, while the highest was in solid biomass and photovoltaic (Table 5). The lowest median and mean were observed for geothermal resources. The greatest SD was noticed for photovoltaic jobs due to rapid changes. Employment in the photovoltaic sector recorded a rapid increase from 1100 people to 44 thousand.

4.3. Q3: Analysis of Predictions for RES Employment in Poland

After the employment analysis, a literature review on the change in competencies in the renewable energy sector has been conducted. Analyzing the experts’ predictions for the near future the following information was found.

4.3.1. Wind Energy

Initially, the expected increase in jobs was around 42 thousand [27]. In 2022, the forecasts for wind energy have become more optimistic. Investments in the Baltic Sea with a capacity of 33 GW will generate an estimated 100 thousand jobs [28] (based on EY for PWEA, 2019).

The latest PWEA estimates indicate 200,000 by 2040, including onshore energy [29].

Onshore and offshore wind energy alone could bring Poland up to 200,000 new jobs and an increase in GDP by PLN 450 billion in the coming decades [29].

The challenges of the WIND market which affect employment are the following:

The emigration of specialists to work abroad. Poland is the fifth country in the world’s rankings when it comes to the number of wind turbine technicians [30]. There is no shortage of experienced specialists, but they do not work in the domestic market [30].
The experts highlight the importance of increasing the number of administrative jobs for processing applications, and environmental and planning decisions, both at the central and local government level [29].
Further challenges may be caused by changing the distance from residential buildings by 200 m (from 500 to 700 m) [31].
The growing importance of regional cooperation in terms of the Baltic Energy Market Interconnection Plan [32].
An additional difficulty will be the mandatory adoption of a local plan, defining the area that allows for the construction of a wind farm. A limited number of areas meeting the statutory criteria will undoubtedly discourage potential investors from investing funds in this type of venture [33].
In the case of offshore wind energy, most new jobs will be located along the Baltic Sea coast, concentrated in the vicinity of installation ports and service ports. The Polish Baltic coast is expected to account for up to 30% of the potential of the entire Baltic Sea [34], which may affect the need to relocate employees.
Protests of local communities against the construction and location of wind farms [35,36].

4.3.2. Photovoltaic and Energy Storage

The increase in the number of installed photovoltaic capacities has translated into the launch of economic activities related to measuring, servicing, or washing PV panels. The 2050 Draft Project assumed that photovoltaics increases in the share from 2.6% to 16%.

Local communities are increasingly protesting against the construction of large photovoltaic farms, fearing a negative impact on the landscape, local fauna and flora, as well as on the value of real estate [35].

Theft and damage caused by wild animals also pose significant challenges [36]. Aleksander Wilczewski, Managing Director of BauWatch Polska, emphasizes the importance of introducing advanced monitoring systems based on artificial intelligence, which enables quick identification and analysis of potential threats.

Energy storage facilities may be responsible for another important branch of energy and new jobs. According to expert research, “The impact of expanding energy storage infrastructure on economic development in Poland—forecast until 2040”, the result of expanding infrastructure with prosumer-class storage facilities and industrial and large-scale storage facilities will be the creation of as many as 26 thousand new and permanent jobs [37].

Due to the rapid development of the photovoltaic market, rapid professional training seems to be a reasonable way to supplement the competencies of staff, as the reconstruction of secondary and higher education in the energy sector will take time and another 5–10 years must pass before new, well-prepared staff can enter the market [38].

Both national and EU legislation continue to influence the energy sector in Poland [39]. According to the analysis by SBF POLSKA PV, the changes that will be in force from 1 April 2022 may involve the risk of liquidation of 13.5 thousand entities in the Polish PV market, which means that the number of companies in the PV industry may shrink by as much as approx. 60%, which may result in the loss of over 86 thousand jobs in the PV sector [40].

Summarizing the PV sector analysis, the following challenges in the PV market that impact employment were defined:

Increasing the flexibility of the network;
Modernization of infrastructure;
Implementation of intelligent energy management systems;
Development of technologies enabling better management of the production and consumption of energy from renewable sources;
Communication with local communities;
Protection against damage and theft of infrastructure;
Legislation.

4.3.3. Heat Pumps

The heat pump market is developing dynamically. A steady increase in employment is observed. New heat pump production plants are also being established. It is expected that the number of jobs could increase by 17 thousand new jobs by 2027 [40].

4.3.4. Hydropower

The advance in hydropower with variable renewable energy sources (RES), such as wind and PV, is that the deployment cost is exhibiting a slightly increasing trend contrary to the decreasing costs of PV and wind [41].

The low level of hydropower energy employment in Poland can be justified by many factors. The natural and hydrological conditions of Poland do not allow for extensive development of hydropower, as is the case of many countries in Europe, for example, Norway, Sweden, and France [42]. Moreover, the existing technical potential was used at an extremely low level [42]. Piwowar and Dzikuć in 2022 argue that “Poland is a lowland country with relatively low total water resources”. High soil permeability affects the possibility of building installation, which another significant factor in the development of hydropower in Poland [42].

On the other hand, a big share of the installation cost of a hydropower project is for civil works, the cost of which typically increases at rates subject to construction cost inflation [43]. Moreover, hydropower plants are site-specific, and each project has unique design characteristics [43]. Hydropower projects have longer pre-development, construction and operational timelines than other renewable energy technologies, hence investment risks for large hydropower schemes are higher, requiring specific policy instruments and incentives, as well as a longer-term policy perspective and vision [43].

The maintenance costs of SHP facilities are quite high, and they tend to increase even more due to the high level of inflation [43]. Despite the challenges, some SHP owners in Poland decided to modernize the hydroelectric power plants. A growing interest in renewable energy sources, including SHPs and pumped-storage power plants, is expected by experts. Thus, Poland still has the potential to develop new hydropower plants, which are sources of predictable and stable production [43]. Due to this fact, employment could be increased.

4.3.5. Geothermal

The progress of geothermal energy in Poland requires further financial support, technological development, and appropriate regulations that would be favorable to investors. Despite the challenges, geothermal energy has the potential to become a profitable and sustainable source of energy in Poland. The investment costs can be compensated by the profitability of the operation, and sustainable supplies of thermal energy will increase independence from fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Employment in the sector is growing very slowly and unstable [44]. Currently, there are eight CHP plants in Poland, two will be put into operation soon, which will generate new jobs.

4.3.6. Renewable Municipal Waste Management

Poland needs to increase the scale of waste storage or processing, which entails further environmental consequences [45].

4.4. Q4: The Main Tendencies in Skills and Competences Changing

According to the latest European skills and jobs survey conducted in 2021 by CEDEFOP [46], energy supply and manufacturing are among the sectors with the highest upskilling needs in terms of technical and job-specific skills. Over half of people experience gaps in this regard, reflecting the effect of the accelerating transition and the fast technological advancement.

The most popular energy jobs worldwide for 2020–2030 will be wind turbine service technicians, solar photovoltaic installers, logisticians, service unit operators, and software developers [47].

The studies, conducted in Poland, identified problems related to a lack of qualified employees (77%), or insufficient levels of knowledge about the technologies involved in Industry 4.0 (41%) [48]. In addition to a shrinking working-age population, the energy sector—including renewables—remains male dominated. Women represent only a third of total employment. This causes narrowing the potential pool of workers [49].

The mismatch of skills is another structural element. Energy supply and manufacturing are among the sectors with the highest upskilling needs in terms of technical and job-specific skills. According to Joint Research Centre fast technological development, not only affect low-skilled employees but also high-skilled professionals such as plant operators and electrical engineers [50]. These employees are at risk of skill obsolescence without continuous learning [50].

Moreover, new positions have been created in response to changes in the environment and market needs. Thus, to negotiate and debate with local communities the energy enterprises employ community liaison specialists.

Many energy companies employ traders to deal with the generated energy [51].

It should be mentioned that some employers require a Ph. D for such positions as project managers, professors, senior research scientists, research engineers, lawyers, etc.

An important element of the RES implementation policy is the location of infrastructure facilities in rural areas. The importance of acquiring new competencies in rural areas is becoming a challenge for energy companies. Many graduates may face relocation to RES locations [52].

Another important trend of energy transformation is knowledge transfer in energy companies [53].

The above-mentioned trends and challenges of the RES market influence the change in desired professions and employee competencies.

The list of the most currently needed positions in the energy sector is as follows [54,55]:

Low-level: biogas technician, heat pump fitter, wind energy technician, RES installation fitter, renewable energy equipment service technician, power grid electrical fitter, wind turbine electromechanical technician, and photovoltaic farm service technician/engineer (O&M).
Mid-level: wind turbine electrician, renewable energy installation designer (photovoltaic installations, heat pumps), RES construction engineer, engineer—bidding specialist (renewable energy projects), heat pump, RES, photovoltaics specialist, RES facility operational analysis specialist, RES project engineer, and heat pump automation specialist.
High-level: technical coordinator for heat pumps, and solar panels, head of the design department of the renewable energy sector, coordinator for the development of renewable energy projects, head of the connection department, and renewable energy project manager.

According to market expert forecasts, the most sought-after professions in Poland will probably include renewable energy assemblers, prosumer solution consultants, IT specialists with a focus on energy, renewable energy component production workers, and mechanical engineers.

According to Manpower [56], the most desired skills in the energy sector for companies operating in the renewable energy sector are knowledge of the latest technologies, including renewable energy sources, process automation installation design, and maintenance of energy systems.

Many jobs will be available in the near future such as specialists in designing and implementing photovoltaic and wind systems, and employees maintaining energy systems—indicates Manpower [56].

To work on wind turbines as an installer or service technician, appropriate training, technical knowledge, and experience are necessary.

Welders, fitters, offshore structure fitters, steel structure technologists, electricians, crane and other equipment operators, and specialists in marine will be needed to provide the support during energy projects implementation.

The position of welder–diver, which involves working underwater in tight spaces and at high pressure, will also become popular, especially in the Pomeranian and West Pomeranian regions [33]. Additionally, if the evacuation from the wind farm or the planned transport to it takes place using a helicopter, OPITO HUET qualifications are required [28]. These competencies are accompanied by training, which is obtained from a given wind turbine manufacturer [28].

Competencies related to the industry that provides technological innovations will also be important [57]. Thus, industry requires specialists with multidisciplinary education [58].

In addition, new competences will also be needed during the construction of buildings or reconstruction of energy facilities. The Polish Agency for Enterprise Development conducted a study of the Industry Human Capital Balance in the construction sector [59]. The results reveal that in the next 5 years, the industry will see the emergence of job positions that have not existed in it so far, such as specialist in the use of ecological materials and technologies, specialist in the use of alternative materials and technologies, and environmental protection inspector [59].

Moreover, the demand for project management specialists is growing [60]. There will be a need for people responsible for planning, implementing, and supervising RES projects, investment coordinators, but also analysts and process optimization specialists and people dealing with legal regulations and certification [59].

New investments increase the demand not only on positions directly related to renewable energy, but also on other supporting positions, such as warehouse workers, office workers, experts in the public procurement market, or programmers for cybersecurity.

Due to the dynamics of the market, it is likely that completely new professions (professions of the future) will also emerge.

On the other hand, it should also be taken into account that strategic changes in the renewable energy sector may result in the elimination of many workplaces. For example, the process of retraining miners to work on onshore wind farms has started. Some of them have already obtained qualifications to work with turbines [61].

The impact of sustainable development policy on the labor market will not focus solely on creating new professions and jobs. Specific competences used in the energy industry will be equally important.

The green skills needed include, among others [59,62], the following:

Knowledge of renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, promoting environmental balance;
In-depth reflection on the value of sustainable development;
Effective management of natural resources;
Buildings or infrastructure with the consideration of minimizing the impact on the environment;
Skills to work with and design environmentally friendly materials and techniques;
Embodying sustainability values: this includes valuing sustainability, supporting fairness, and promoting nature;
Embracing complexity in sustainability: this includes systems thinking, critical thinking and problem framing;
Envisioning sustainable futures, this includes futures literacy, adaptability and exploratory thinking;
Acting for sustainability, this includes political agency, collective action, and individual initiative;
The specific skills linked to each RES sector, etc.

Digitalization is progressing, therefore the need to create and maintain software for the energy industry will grow [62,63,64,65,66]. Knowledge from various fields of computer science will be needed in the energy sector for IT employees as well as managers of different areas of energy enterprises.

The most desirable competencies include the following: [51,62,63,66,67,68]:

Digital skills to operate smart systems;
Data management skills;
Analytics skills;
Software development skills;
Skills to develop and maintain sustainable digital technologies, such as AI, 5G, cloud computing and the Internet of Things, edge computing, blockchain, big data;
Knowledge of programming languages and software used in data analysis;
Cybersecurity and grid automation.

To sum up, the results of the literature analysis reveal the significant drivers/tendencies of RES employment in Poland:

Digitalization;
Reskilling;
Internationalization;
Geographical relocation;
Sustainable development;
The growth of the importance of public opinion and of the power of public communities;
Remote collaboration;
Attracting young employees;
Decreasing gender gap;
Skills structurization;
Knowledge transfer.

5. Discussion

The results of the analysis showed several facts that support the creation the optimistic scenarios for the development, most of all, the wind and photovoltaic, RES labor market sector.

The main future directions of creating new jobs in the Polich RES labor market are as follows: wind energy photovoltaic, heat pumps, and municipal waste. Despite the trend analysis showing the renewable unstable structure of employment in municipal waste, experts predict employment growth in this sector in the long term.

There are several research limitations. First, the data gap (lack of data) between 2022 and 2024 in many databases prevents detailed, smooth analysis until 2024. These data are still being collected and processed. The data for 2024 could be collected based experts’ opinions extracted from the literature. Due to the small numbers of observations accessed in databases, most of the findings in this paper focus on changes, as well as the short history of renewable energy generation. There is no possibility to conduct advanced analysis of RES employment dynamics.

Next, the difference in available data. Several sources suggest that in 2022, the level of employment in renewable energies in Germany reached 387,700 people [69]. Sophisticated estimation methods have been used based on input–output calculations. The methods and the current results are described in detail in a study commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy [70,71]. Based on the data from Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Table 3 has been completed and Table 6 was created.

The employment analysis revealed that, based on UBA data, the situation was different (Figure 12).

The employment trend was similar, but the employment ratio values suggest that Germany employs proportionally more people in the RES sector than Poland, even in 2022 (Figure 12). The tendency to shorten the gap between Poland and Germany remains (Figure 13).

Employment in the German renewable energy sector was considerably higher within the wind energy technology area, with over 130,000 thousand jobs in 2021. Approximately 350,000 people were employed in the renewable energy sector that year [72].

The obtained results (Figure 14) differ from the results presented in Figure 8.

In the case of using the UBA data for employment ratio calculation, the upward trend to sustainability in proportion could be observed. The difference was shortened from 0.33 to 0.8 in 2021. In 2022, due to the decline in employment, the difference increased again to 0.17%.

Based on data from UBA, the positions in the EU ranking of Germany and Poland are as follows: Germany is in 10th place and Poland is in 14th place (Figure 15).

It also should be noticed that in the IRENA database, the data on RES employment are also different [73]. Thus, the employment ratio proportions could be different.

Nevertheless, the analysis shows that the increase in employment in Poland is taking place at a very fast pace, and the 2040 project assumes further investments in the RES sector, and consequently a further increase in employment. On the other hand, the changes will simultaneously result in the liquidation of many jobs and the re-invention of employees. All the above-described changes will result in a change in the competencies of employees, both ordinary and managerial staff. Changes in the RES labor market should be supported by new educational programs.

To enable effective re-industry, which will aim to adapt the skills and knowledge of employees to the requirements of the modern RES sector, investments in education and training are necessary.

Answering the research questions, the following main findings were defined:

The research on RES employment in Poland is generally divided into three main directions: the tendencies analysis of the RES labor market, the analysis of impact of renewable energy sources on generating jobs, and the competence changes analysis.
Analyzing Poland’s position in terms of employment in RES in relation to the world, the European Union, and China (Figure 1), it could be noticed that Poland’s share of total employment in relation to the whole world, as much as 1.55%, to the European Union was in 2022 as much as 13.06%; to employment in China, this value was 3.80%.
Compared to China, Poland recorded a higher position in employment in the biofuels and solid biomass sectors.
Compared to the EU, Poland’s position in RES employment is noticeable, especially in the areas of photovoltaic, CSP, solar heating, and biofuels.
Considering the employment ratio, for two years (2021 and 2022) Poland has been employing proportionally more workers in the RES sector than Germany (based on EurObserv’ER data). This trend was upward.
Poland achieved the five leading positions (three first and two second) in RES employment among EU countries in 2021, and one first and two second positions in 2022.
The total RES employment in Poland from 2017 to 2022 has an upward trend.
The greatest employment has been noticed in the photovoltaic and solid biomass sectors in Poland; the lowest level is in renewable municipal waste and hydropower energy sectors.
In Poland stable growth trends were noted for photovoltaic and heat pumps, variable growth trends for solid biomass, wind power and geothermal energy, solar thermal energy, biogas, and municipal waste. Biofuels and hydropower, on the other hand, recorded declines in employment.
The forecast of employment is difficult due to market dynamics and state regulations that may affect future employment in various RES sectors.
The largest employment growth is expected in wind energy. However, the predictions for wind power sector were various.
No significant employment growth is expected in the biofuels, solid biomass, solar thermal, and biogas sectors.
Currently, the greatest demand in Poland is for specialists in designing and implementing photovoltaic and wind systems, employees maintaining energy systems, and wind turbine installers.
Polish legislation has a major impact on employment in the RES sector.
Thanks to the introduction of innovations, completely new professions may emerge in the RES sector in the coming years.

The following groups of specialists in energy industry will be needed in the future [51,74]:

Technological group:

Electrical/energy trades (electrician, linepersons, workers).
Construction positions (form worker, steel fixer, cane operator, pipefitter).
Technicians (telecommunications technician, metering technician, solar installation technician, etc.).
Engineers (electrical engineer, civil engineer, mechanical design engineer etc.).
Energy managers (construction project manager, environmental manager, offshore installation manager, etc.).
Science professionals (scientists (biological, plant scientists), research engineer, researcher, ecologist, professor, etc.)
Energy traders.

Supporting group:

IT specialists (data analyst, systems architect, network administrator, cyber security analyst, AI specialist, software engineer, SCADA engineer, automation engineer, Web publisher, etc.).
Community liaison specialists (officer, consultant, coordinator, etc.).
Education specialists (trainer, instructor, professor, program manager, etc.).
Other energy enterprise staff (financial department, human resources department, logistics department, etc., sales, CRM department, marketing, etc.).

6. Conclusions

The changes in RES development influence the changes in RES employment and competencies in Poland. The government and the private sector have a key role to play by supporting the development of renewable energy technologies and investing in infrastructure and research. Such actions will not only accelerate the energy transformation, but also create conditions for the development of innovative Polish companies and start-ups in the energy sector. All these investments mean an increase in demand for qualified employees in the next few years—not only management staff but also technicians and engineers with appropriate qualifications and training.

Unfortunately, despite the rapid expansion of green job opportunities globally, only a small fraction of the workforce possesses relevant skills to address climate change.

The energy enterprises report barriers to green skills development; for example, lack of time for training, lack of understanding of the importance of skilled workers, lack of investments in training, and problems with collaboration [75]. Thus, many public entities and companies are already investing their time and capital in conducting training in the field of green competencies. The IT competencies are also under great demand in the energy sector.

Education systems need to adapt rapidly to the demands of the energy market and move away from fossil fuel to sustainable and renewable energy focuses to prepare a workforce capable of supporting a sustainable, smart and green future [5].

Moreover, improving training programs for sustainable energy systems requires governments to work closely with companies and educational institutions to understand their needs, approaches, and challenges [76]. Strong partnerships between governments, educational institutions, companies, and labor offices are necessary to develop and implement training and education strategies that deliver the skills required by the RES sector. This includes anticipating and forecasting future training needs [76].

Future work should be based on the analysis of competencies, as well as the creation of competencies’ profiles and career maps, especially for the management and R&D staff of the RES sector, to increase the development of renewable energy employment in different regions of Poland.

Funding

Data Availability Statement

All the data are available at the following databases: Statista database https://www.statista.com/, IRENA database https://www.irena.org/Data, EurObserv’ER database https://www.eurobserv-er.org/, Labour market information https://eures.europa.eu/living-and-working/labour-market-information_en, OurWorldInData.org. Retrieved from: ‘https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy’ [Online Resource], https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.IN?locations=PL (accessed on 12 May 2024).

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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Figure 1. Share of employment in energy from renewable resources in 2022: world, China, European Union, P/W—Poland/World, P/Ch—Poland/China, P/EU—Poland/European Union. Source: own preparation based on data from [2,20].

Figure 2. Share of energy from renewable sources in 2022: world (W), China (Ch), European Union (EU), Poland (P). Source: own preparation based on [2,20].

Figure 3. Total employment in RES in EU countries in 2022 in thousands. Source: own preparation based on [21].

Figure 4. Poland’s RES employment ranking among EU countries. Source: own preparation based on [21].

Figure 6. Employment in renewable resources from 2017 to 2022 in Germany and Poland in thousands. Source: own preparation based on [21].

Figure 7. The employment in RES to labor force employment in 2017–2022: the comparison of Poland and Germany. Source: own preparation based on [21,24].

Figure 8. The employment ratio for Poland and Germany in 2022. Source: own preparation based on [21,24].

Figure 9. The employment ratio for Poland and Germany, by technology in 2022. Source: own preparation based on [21,24].

Figure 10. The changes in the RES employment in Poland from 2017 to 2022 in thousands. Source: own preparation based on [21].

Figure 11. The structural changes in RES employment in Poland in 2017–2022 in thousands. Source: own preparation based on [21].

Figure 12. The differences in RES employment between Poland and Germany according to UBA data (Germany UBA) and EurObserv’ER ‘s data (Germany). Source: own preparation based on [21,71].

Figure 13. The employment ratio in Poland and Germany, with the prediction until 2024. Source: own preparation based on [21,71].

Figure 14. The employment ratio (1) for Poland and Germany (UBA) from 2017 to 2022. Source: own preparation based on [21,71].

Figure 15. The employment ratio (1) for EU countries in 2022 considering the UBA data. Source: own preparation based on [71].

Table 1. Poland RES labor market shares in 2022.

Resource	World	China	EU	Poland	P/W	P/Ch	P/EU
Solar PV	4,902,000	2,760,000	517,000	114,354	2.33%	4.14%	22.12%
Biofuels	2,490,000	55,000	148,000	21,400	0.86%	38.91%	14.46%
Hydropower	2,485,000	876,000	83,000	500	0.02%	0.06%	0.60%
Wind power	1,400,000	681,000	319,000	8600	0.61%	1.26%	2.70%
Solar heating	712,000	557,000	38,000	8200	1.15%	1.47%	21.58%
Solid biomass	779,000	195,000	354,000	46,900	6.02%	24.05%	13.25%
Biogas	309,000	160,000	47,000	2600	0.84%	1.63%	5.53%
Geothermal	152,000	87,000	70,000	1200	0.79%	1.38%	1.71%
CSP	80,000	59,400	5000	2800	3.50%	4.71%	56.00%
Total	13,309,000	5,430,400	1,581,000	206,554	1.55%	3.80%	13.06%

Source: own preparation based on data from [2,20].

Table 2. Poland’s RES employment ranking among EU countries in 2019–2022.

Resources	2019	2020	2021	2022
biofuels	3	3	1	1
solid biomass	1	2	1	2
solar thermal	6	4	3	4
biogas	5	5	4	5
photovoltaic	6	2	2	2
wind power	10	7	7	7
heat pumps	9	11	8	8
geothermal	27	27	1	5
municipal waste	10	10	2	15
hydropower	13	13	15	13

Source: own preparation based on [21]. The green color shows the highest positions, the red color -lowest.

Table 3. The RES employment in Poland and Germany.

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Germany	290,700	263,700	230,100	242,100	256,800	299,000
Poland	73,900	85,800	80,200	92,600	129,300	129,900

Source: own preparation based on [21].

Table 4. The employment in RR in Poland in 2017–2022 with trend lines.

Resource	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
biofuels	31,400	41,200	18,000	17,900	21,400	21,500
solid biomass	25,900	29,600	39,100	32,700	46,900	33,400
solar thermal	2200	2200	1400	1500	2800	2000
biogas	2300	2700	2000	2600	2600	2300
photovoltaic	1100	3100	10,100	20,200	35,200	44,100
wind power	8000	3000	4200	10,900	8600	13,700
heat pumps	3000	2600	4400	5900	8200	11,700
geothermal	100	200	100	100	1200	400
municipal waste	700	200	300	300	1900	100
hydropower	1100	1000	600	500	500	700

Source: own preparation based on [21].

Table 5. The descriptive statistics on employment in RES in Poland in 2017–2022.

	Mean	Median	SD	Minimum	Maximum
biofuels	25,233	21,450	9249	17,900	41,200
solid biomass	34,600	33,050	7447	25,900	46,900
solar thermal	2017	2100	515	1400	2800
biogas	2417	2450	264	2000	2700
photovoltaic	18,967	15,150	17,586	1100	44,100
wind power	8067	8300	4017	3000	13,700
heat pumps	5967	5150	3477	2600	11,700
geothermal	350	150	432	100	1200
municipal waste	583	300	677	100	1900
hydropower	733	650	258	500	1100

Table 6. The RES employment in Poland and Germany (EurObserv’ER and UBA).

Year	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Germany (EurObserv’ER)	290,700	263,700	230,100	242,100	256,800	299,000
Germany (UBA)	318,500	316,500	309,000	339,300	337,300	387,300
Poland	73,900	85,800	80,200	92,600	129,300	129,900

Source: own preparation based on [21,69,70].

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Pilipczuk, O. Analysis of the Current State and Challenges of Renewable Energy Employment in Poland. Energies 2024, 17, 6432. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246432

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Pilipczuk O. Analysis of the Current State and Challenges of Renewable Energy Employment in Poland. Energies. 2024; 17(24):6432. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246432

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Pilipczuk, Olga. 2024. "Analysis of the Current State and Challenges of Renewable Energy Employment in Poland" Energies 17, no. 24: 6432. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246432

APA Style

Pilipczuk, O. (2024). Analysis of the Current State and Challenges of Renewable Energy Employment in Poland. Energies, 17(24), 6432. https://doi.org/10.3390/en17246432

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