One of many main tales that outlined the tech sector in 2023 was layoffs. Corporations giant and small shed over 240,000 jobs within the final yr, and whereas the pattern has cooled of late, it hasn’t stopped, with almost 7,000 jobs lower in November alone.
However there have been vivid spots. Local weather tech is one sector that has been hiring, and 2024 seems to be like will probably be persevering with the pattern.
Clear power jobs have grown 10% up to now two years, outpacing the economic system as an entire, based on a report by trade group E2. By way of 2032, when the Inflation Discount Act is ready to run out, the fastest-growing job fields embody wind turbine technician (45% progress) and photo voltaic photovoltaic installer (22% progress), based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
For startups, 2023 was extra muddled. As buyers closed their pocketbooks, founders needed to make exhausting decisions about how you can prolong their runways. Some needed to resort to layoffs, however not everybody. Many founders I’ve spoken with proceed to emphasise that they’re hiring for quite a lot of roles.
For these laid off from the final tech sector, local weather tech would seem like an interesting pivot, and for a lot of, that’s proving to be true. Almost each firm wants software program builders, challenge managers and designers. Is there a necessity for 240,000 of them? Most likely not but. And a few that seem like a detailed match may require a little bit of local weather or power information on the a part of the applicant.
In different phrases, there’s a abilities hole.