Build. Now! Hire. Today!

February for solar and energy storage professionals means RE+ Northeast (strangely mis-timed with a blizzard this year!) and Intersolar North America. If you're one of the 15,000 renewable professionals who attended one of these coastal mainstays in our industry, you may have heard a little buzz about urgency as we head into the start of construction season.

February is typically the month when hiring intentions turn into actions, but this year, that shift comes with urgency and execution with the solar Investment Tax Credit scheduled to wind down. Long-standing solar development projects are being pushed aggressively toward construction, often alongside storage and load-driven infrastructure tied to data centers.

We're seeing a clear increase in demand for construction and operations talent across solar, energy storage, and data center–adjacent infrastructure—not because companies want to grow headcount, but because projects need to move.

That urgency is showing up most clearly in hiring on projects that are permitted, financed, and nearing notice to proceed. EPCs are pulling forward needs for experienced field leadership. Developers are accelerating construction oversight and owner's engineers need to hire talent to get plansets out the door faster. The companies navigating this moment best understand where speed matters when it comes to procuring top talent.

This is creating familiar tension in the talent market and will soon be a shortage with so much demand. Experienced construction and operations professionals know their value and many of them will be asking for above market rate salaries. Many remember the last cycle of rushed hiring in project development in 2021-2023 followed by abrupt slowdown. I'm anticipating we may see something similar with construction professionals in 2028, but, for now, hire away!

Hiring advice for young professionals

Do you know young climate-minded professionals looking for job searching opportunities and advice? I recently worked with Rob Jordan at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment on his recently published article geared to graduate students pursuing careers in the environmental sector. Read my take, along with the input of other CEOs in the field, here.

Hiring top clean energy talent in 2026?

If you're planning to build or expand your team this year, now is the time to start the conversation. We're happy to help you think through timing, compensation, and hiring strategy — before the market gets crowded again. Let me know if you'd like to discuss this virtually or in-person. You can book time with me using the link here.

Receive a bonus for a referral to our website

If you are currently exploring a new job in your renewable energy career, we invite you to have a look at our careers portal. Refer a candidate to EnergeiaWorks and if they get hired, we'll send you an EnergeiaWorks solar backpack with a $1,000 check. Visit our website to submit!