Will Solar Engineers See a Recruiting Comeback in 2012?

Abby Lombardi — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:55:36 +0000

2011 was supposed to bring advancements in green energy. However, after grants were given to companies to develop solar energy advancements, many organizations began to go bankrupt. Hiring was strong in the beginning of 2011 – reflecting that many companies in this industry were focusing on this alternative energy source. In fact, in March and May of 2011 Recruiters posted more than 1,000 job ads for Solar Engineers, marking new all-time highs in demand. However, after the market began to slow, you can see a drop in hiring demand. Over the past 90 days, we found about 1,700 job ads for Engineers for solar energy projects. This is a 13% decline over the same 90-day period last year.

Hiring Demand for Solar Engineers – Past 4 Years

Source: WANTED Analytics

Since hiring demand has decreased and the pool of qualified candidates has not declined as quickly, our Hiring Scale™ shows that Engineers with solar energy backgrounds are likely to be fairly easy to recruit. Nationally, the easiest place to find these skills is currently in Houston, Texas.

Hiring Scale for Solar Engineers in Houston (Easy-to-Fill Location)

Source: WANTED Analytics

However, not all Recruiters will experience these easy conditions. Among the most difficult places to recruit Solar Engineers is San Diego. Here, hiring demand has actually grown over the past year, up about about 5%, while the talent supply has not grown as fast. Not only will Recruiters see more competition for Solar Engineers, but are also likely to take longer to fill these jobs than in many other areas of the US. Job ads in San Diego are online for about 7 weeks – one of the longest average posting periods for these skills nationwide.

Hiring Scale for Solar Engineers in San Diego (Hard-to-Fill Location)

Source: WANTED Analytics

Will green energy fields make a comeback in 2012 and will hiring pick up again?

Are you sourcing for Engineers to work on your green energy projects? Find out how hard-to-fill they will be in your area with the free, online Hiring Scale™!

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Will Solar Engineers See a Recruiting Comeback in 2012?