Jason Huff hiking at Alaska’s Exit Glacier and Harding Icefield. A local paper called the melting glacier “an icon of climate change” and the visit helped convince Huff to shift careers to climate tech. (Huff Family Photo)

There has never been a better time to get a job in climate tech.

Nations and corporations are setting ambitious carbon goals. The U.S. government is enacting plans unleashing billions of dollars to address climate change. Many investors remain bullish on climate tech startups. Job prospects in the space are relatively rosy while traditional tech giants layoff thousands.

Climate career opportunities include everything from installing solar panels and electric vehicle charging devices to innovating cutting-edge climate tech hardware and software.

Yin Lu, partner with MCJ Collective. (MCJ Collective Photo)

At first it seemed like a niche sector for new jobs, said Yin Lu, partner with MCJ Collective. But now “it’s literally everywhere,” she said.

New evidence keeps emerging on job growth in the sector, and there are even warnings about shortages of both blue- and white-collar climate workers. On the installation and manufacturing side, U.S. clean energy companies have announced more than 100,000 new jobs since the August passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Globally, the current 6 million jobs in clean energy manufacturing could more than double to 14 million by 2030, according to a new report from IEA, an intergovernmental nonprofit.

But with so many options in a field that is rapidly evolving and expanding, how do you actually land a job in the climate sector?

Traditional career routes, including universities and government-led programs, are bolstering their climate job pathways — but they’re often moving slower than the quickly shifting field. In the meantime, a slate of new nonprofits and startups have cropped up to share jobs listings, compile resources, hold workshops and connect people.

That includes MCJ Collective (an acronym for My Climate Journey), which is investing in climate startups, produces a podcast, and has a 3,000-person Slack channel. Others in the space are Climate Draft, Climatebase, Leafr, Terra.do and Work on Climate. There’s a public Google doc called “So You Want to Work in Climate” that’s corralling resources. Multiple organizations in January hosted an online Climate Career Week with sessions titled “Big Tech to Climate Tech” and “Kickstart Your Rewarding Climate Career.”

Recent tech company layoffs are helping drive interest, Lu said. With each round of job losses, MCJ Collective sees a spike in member applications.

People share messages like “I’m just waking up and realizing that I need to focus on something more meaningful for the time that I have left on this earth,” Lu said. “It’s really powerful.”

‘New direction’

Jason Huff with his wife, Emily, and their kids Taylor and Anna hiking near the Grewingk Glacier in Homer, Alaska. “We had multiple conversations about savoring these sights because of how quickly they are changing,” Huff said. (Huff Family Photo)

Jason Huff is among those charting a bold, new climate career path.

Huff was in education for two decades, most recently helping Seattle Public Schools use data analytics in leadership training and strategic planning. The parent of two has become increasingly concerned about the havoc being wreaked by climate change. This summer his family hiked glaciers in his home state of Alaska, bearing witness to their epic retreat.

“It was a pretty sobering experience for all of us,” Huff said, “and confirmed my decision to move in this new direction.”

He compares today’s growth in the climate sector to the fast-moving, early days of the internet boom. Back then, the demand and use-cases for the technology were less clear. Now, with people worldwide struggling through droughts, wildfires and flooding, “there won’t be those questions about the need for so much [climate] work and so much climate tech infrastructure,” Huff said.

In his journey to switch careers, Huff is building on his years of experience by learning the vernacular of the climate field, as well as networking and researching companies in the sector.

Lu said she’s seeing a lot of people taking their professional skills and applying them to climate-centric roles. Organizations like Terra.do, she said, have fellowship programs that explain carbon sources and clean energy solutions, providing people a “foundational knowledge of how to think about their role in the climate context.”

Stoking the higher-ed pipeline

Universities nationwide are seeing students eager to embark on climate careers out of the gate.

“Students are super motivated by the climate crisis,” said Dan Schwartz, director of the University of Washington’s Clean Energy Institute. “This is something they are called to, and there are jobs for them.”

Dan Schwartz, director of the UW’s Clean Energy Institute. (UW Photo)

In the past couple of years, Stanford University and Columbia University announced the creation of climate schools, while other institutions have climate programs and related subject areas.

Part of the challenge in prepping students for the field is how quickly some historically fringe technologies — hydrogen fuel, fusion power and carbon capture among them — are emerging as significant players. Many universities don’t yet have robust programs in these areas. Schwartz said that’s OK.

“Anybody who’s trained as an engineer or scientist has the foundational skills to go into those areas,” he said. “The sector is nascent. It’s just premature to be doing specialized training to fill the need.”

And climate tech startups are proving resourceful in adapting talent. In the fusion field, for example, companies are nabbing experienced folks from aerospace to fill roles.

Prepping for physical jobs

Michael Carter, King County’s green jobs program manager. (Photo via LinkedIn)

While universities ramp up, programs are also launching to prep employees for skilled climate work that doesn’t require four-year degrees. That includes installers of solar panels, EV chargers and heat pumps. It’s an essential area, experts say.

“If you have too much of a tech lens on, you tend to forget that climate change is a physical job,” said Lu.

The Biden administration last year announced the Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge, which aims to increase the number of people ready to install clean energy technology and other infrastructure.

King County, which encompasses Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond, is close to releasing its multi-year strategy for climate job training. The focus is on creating living-wage job opportunities for those hardest hit by the impacts of climate change — namely people in low-income and diverse communities, said Michael Carter, King County’s green jobs program manager.

The strategy zeroes in on jobs in four areas: transportation, manufacturing, construction and professional services. The county will be partnering with unions, employers, community colleges, local governments, and organizations in workforce training to execute the plan.

Maud Daudon, executive leader of Career Connect Washington. (CCW Photo)

The goal is to target roles that are currently available to ensure employment opportunities — but also be ready for jobs of the future.

“As new technologies emerge, we can plug in resources into that already existing, vibrant network,” Carter said.

Washington state runs Career Connect Washington to train young people for a variety of in-demand careers, including climate jobs. The focus is helping workers get apprenticeships and internships with employers.

“The clean tech sector is probably the area of greatest growth,” said Maud Daudon, the program’s executive leader. While there’s great potential in the space, she said, it’s evolving so fast that it’s challenging to keep up, leaving the organization struggling to nail down specifics on worker roles and demand.

‘This is my thing’

Huff has faced firsthand the difficulty of navigating the swiftly morphing field.

“I think this is my thing. And I’m willing to do what I need to do to get into this space.”

“It’s a pretty daunting task to try to get up to speed and stay caught up,” he said.

Huff is prepping for a role in carbon accounting. Microsoft, Salesforce and many startups have created platforms to help organizations tally and track their carbon emissions. Huff envisions a position for himself helping customers use the software. He realizes that it could take time to find work, but is committed to his decision.

“I think this is my thing. And I’m willing to do what I need to do to get into this space,” Huff said. “This is something I would regret not having done if I didn’t make the pivot and take the risk.”

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