Career Trends: Wind Turbine Technicians

Wind turbine service technicians, also known as windtechs, install, maintain, and repair wind turbines.

Wind turbine service technicians generally work outdoors, in confined spaces, and often at great heights. Although the majority of windtechs work full time, they may also be on call to handle emergencies during evenings and weekends.

Most wind turbine service technicians learn their trade by attending a technical school. They are also trained by their employer after hiring.

Employment of wind turbine service technicians is projected to grow 108 percent from 2014 to 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. Because wind electricity generation is expected to grow over the coming decade, additional technicians will be needed to install and maintain new turbines. Job prospects should be excellent for qualified candidates.

This occupation supported 3,200 jobs in 2012 and 4,400 jobs in 2014, reflecting an increase of 37.5%. In 2012, this occupation was projected to increase by 25.0% in 2022 to 4,000 jobs. As of 2014, to keep pace with prediction, the expected number of jobs was 3,300, compared with an observed value of 4,400, 33.3% higher than expected. This indicates current employment trends are much better than the 2012 trend within this occupation. In 2014, this occupation was projected to increase by 150.0% in 2024 to 9,200 jobs. Linear extrapolation of the 2012 projection for 2022 results in an expected number of 4,100 jobs for 2024, 55.4% lower than the 2014 projection for 2024. This indicates expectations for future employment trends are much better than the 2012 trend within this occupation.