There will be more new jobs in solar than oil by the end of 2016

According to numbers tabulated by Indeed, the world’s highest traffic job site, the solar panel industry will be the largest energy job producer by late 2016.

The drop in job listings for those in the oil industry have occurred because of falling profits accompanying a decrease in demand.

Over the past two years, oil job postings are declining by around 12.6% every quarter, while solar jobs are dropping at an average of 1.7% per quarter.  Measuring the market share, oil was about 50% of all energy jobs, globally, while solar was 39%.  Following current trends, this is due to change soon.

“The decline in oil prices has not just rocked that industry, but jobs linked to both fossil fuels and renewable energy,” said Tara Sinclair, chief economist at Indeed. “Whether or not solar overtakes oil on Indeed, energy workers would do well to position themselves for work in renewable fields such as solar, wind, and hydroelectricity.”

Currently employing around 77% more workers than the coal mining industry, the solar energy sector should have 240,000 workers involved with it by the end of 2016.

There has been a 60% drop in oil prices over the last 18 months and jobs in that sector.  BP plans to cut 7,000 jobs in 2017 and Chevron plans to cut 10% of its workforce, also about 7,000 jobs.