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ALBANY, N.Y. (WENY) – Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the number of individuals with clean energy jobs in the state reached a record level of 165,000 workers at the end of 2021.
The New York Clean Energy Industry Report released on Tuesday provides data on the state’s clean energy job growth through the end of 2021.
“This year’s Clean Energy Industry Report shows what I have always known to be true of New Yorkers – that we are resilient, and we keep moving forward in the face of adversity,” Governor Hochul said. “Although COVID-19 greatly impacted the entire economy over the last few years, we have seen how the clean energy industry has led the way in our recovery. More New Yorkers than ever before are employed with family-sustaining clean energy jobs and are actively helping New York build a workforce that can meet the demands of the future.”
According to the report, the clean energy job sector recovered faster from the impact of COVID than nearly all other industries in New York.
Since 2015, clean energy employment in the state has grown by approximately 17 percent, or over 24,000 jobs.
Key findings from this year’s report include…
165,055 New Yorkers had clean energy jobs at the end of 2021, up from 157,686 in 2020.
New York’s green jobs grew more than 4.7 percent from 2020 through 2021 – gaining over 7,000 jobs in 12 months. This sector experienced a faster recovery compared to other industries in New York including education and retail trade; employment in these industries grew between 1.7-3 percent between 2020 and 2021.
Employment met or exceeded pre-pandemic levels in almost all technology sectors. Renewable electric power generation, alternative transportation, renewable fuels, and grid modernization and energy storage all reached or surpassed their pre-pandemic employment levels by the end of 2021.
The alternative transportation technology sector saw unprecedented growth between 2020 and 2021. Alternative transportation employment expanded by almost 26 percent or 2,318 jobs in just 12 months.
Solar accounted for the largest share of job gains in the renewable electric power generation technology sector. While solar firms across New York lost more than 400 workers from 2019 through 2020, they grew by more than 1,000 workers between 2020 through 2021.
The industries with the largest job growth were labor and civic organizations, software publishers, durable goods merchant wholesalers, and machinery, equipment, and supplies wholesalers.
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