Despite the continued reliance on hydrocarbons and oil and gas products, the growth of renewable projects across the United States shows no sign of slowing. Buoyed by tax incentives and subsidies, the sector has demonstrated remarkable resilience. With some areas of renewable energy feeling the effects of the recently introduced One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), the US renewables sector remains in reasonably good health overall.
Renewables in the US: An Overview
Renewables now supply approximately a quarter of the USA’s electricity needs. While this represents a significant achievement, there remains a considerable distance to travel in the energy transition, reducing the nation’s reliance on oil and gas and scaling green outputs to meet long-term decarbonisation goals.
Sectors showing the strongest signs of continued growth include solar and battery storage. Solar, in particular, has been the stand-out performer, doubling its capacity during 2024 compared to 2023. Battery storage is also surging, with approximately 15 GW of new capacity delivered in 2024 alone.
The US is also a world leader in planned and operational carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects, with more than triple the number of projects as its nearest rival, a position that reflects both the scale of domestic ambition and the depth of technical expertise available in the market.
Wind capacity has largely plateaued, contributing a substantial share of renewable energy generation but experiencing slower recent growth due to transmission constraints and evolving policy challenges.
Trouble Ahead?
Despite this positive picture, renewable projects across the US continue to grow at a pace. But can anything halt the progress of the emerging clean energy sector?
In a word: yes.
The sector is burgeoning, with a myriad of CCS and solar projects coming online across the country as it targets 100% carbon pollution-free electricity by 2030. Yet this rapid growth is now facing a significant threat, a deepening skills shortage. Put simply, there are not enough qualified professionals in-country to meet growing demand and help energy companies maximise the vast opportunities on offer.
The consequences of this talent squeeze extend beyond unfilled vacancies. Companies are increasingly competing for resources from the same limited pool, which is driving up remuneration costs, damaging staff retention rates, and, critically, doing nothing to expand the long-term talent pipeline. The sector risks becoming caught in a cycle of reactive hiring that inflates costs without solving the underlying problem.
To address this, WRS has been working closely with clients to transition resources from other industries and geographies. By attracting people from adjacent sectors and upskilling them for clean energy roles, clients can step back from the costly scramble for talent that pitches renewables players against one another. It is a time-served and proven approach for emerging industries, but implementing such a programme requires careful planning and coordination that traditional recruitment methods simply do not provide.
Fighting Back Against the Skills Shortage
Through the implementation of a collaborative global talent pipeline, our Managed Service Provider (MSP) programme assists clients in attracting people from other sectors and locations around the world in a strategic, managed, and sustainable way.
By outsourcing recruitment through our MSP programme, clients can leverage best practice across a wide range of workforce disciplines, including:
- Candidate attraction and global mobility
- Sector transitions and cross-industry upskilling
- Incentivised delivery and retention strategies
- Workforce planning and resource redeployment
Our MSP programme also allows clients to engage an expanded network of recruitment firms simultaneously, consolidating reporting, vacancy management, screening, selection, and candidate coordination, removing a significant administrative burden from internal teams.
Underpinning the programme is a bespoke technology platform through which our team documents deliverables, processes, and incentives. Analytics and key performance indicators are used on an ongoing basis to enhance service delivery, establish clear outcomes, and share cross-project learning.
Key Benefits of a Robust MSP
In order to bring maximum value to clients, providing a consistent stream of qualified people where and when they are needed, our MSP solutions are 100% flexible. They can be adjusted to enhance a variety of key areas:
- Skills and experience selection
- Past worker tracking
- Keyword search tagging and SEO
- Niche hiring pre-qualification
- Validation of pooled candidates
- Resource planning
- Supplier partnering
- Market intelligence
- Access to diverse labour markets
The benefits of a well-executed MSP programme are numerous. Clients enjoy a host of measurable improvements, including enhanced candidate attraction, meaningful reductions in hiring costs, and significantly decreased time-to-hire. Consistent screening, selection, and onboarding processes also improve overall resourcing effectiveness and quality of hire.
Drawing on decades of recruitment industry experience, and building on the long-term client relationships WRS already enjoys, we believe that MSP programmes can play a vital role in providing a constant stream of new talent to service the US clean energy sector.
With talent pool expansion activities optimised, clients will see their potential talent reach widen from local to global, taking advantage of WRS’s extensive cross-sector reach, while long-term workforce planning will help safeguard the sector’s future.
Ready to Take Control of Your Workforce?
If you want to master your workforce strategy and avoid the pitfalls of a poorly managed MSP, we would welcome the opportunity to show you how Worldwide Recruitment Solutions makes the difference.
Talk to our WRS team today to find out how our flexible, technology-driven MSP recruitment solutions can transform your hiring, compliance, and supplier management.
Let’s build a workforce strategy that works for you.
