Despite the rapid growth of employment in the U.S. solar industry, education and training providers continue to report a difficult labor market for their graduates. Meanwhile, employers have noted increasing difficulty in finding the talent they need. Given this, it is critical to the health of the industry to ensure there is an ample supply of well-trained workers replete with proficiencies in four skill areas.
At Solar Power International 2015, Andrea Luecke, president and executive director of The Solar Foundation, presented on the nature of these skill competencies and gaps, providing new tools for measuring solar career readiness and promoting skill development. Here’s a quick recap.
According to a recent Gallup pole, Americans agree that the U.S. needs to develop its workforce talent. More than 78% agree that if we don’t do this we’ll fall behind other countries. The solar industry is no exception, as it continues to grow, so does the challenge of finding skilled labor.
Between 2007 and 2010, during the recession, 136,000 electricians lost their jobs. Therefore, there was plenty of skilled talent to hire in the solar industry. But as the economy has recovered, it’s become harder to find skilled professionals to fill solar jobs.
Luecke explained that the solar industry too often relies on previous experience when hiring.
One problem is that the solar industry often relies on hiring those with solar experience, which may not be as crucial as some think when more than 2/3 of solar companies offer on-the-job training. Also, it’s important to train those with experience as well to avoid mistakes and refine skills. Luecke encouraged companies to move beyond experience as the definitive qualifier for hiring.
Instead, she suggested a new approach, in which pools of high-quality existing workers are assessed in various areas of skill comprising four “pillars”: technical, academic, personality and workplace. The results are used to develop profiles for the primary solar occupations detailing baseline proficiencies within each pillar. These completed profiles can act as benchmarks to to predict the success of prospective hires, and tools to gauge gaps between employer needs and the pool of available labor.
Luecke suggest assessing potential hires in four areas, or pillars.
Luecke closed with saying that although the ITC will have an impact on solar jobs, long term growth will still be good.
