2021 U.S. Energy and Employment Report

The 2021 U.S. Energy and Employment Report (USEER) (July 2021) is the sixth installment of this annual study and is a U.S. Department of Energy report prepared by the National Association of State Energy Officials (NASEO) with assistance from the Energy Futures Initiative and BW Research Partners, Inc. The USEER surveys the U.S. labor force and tracks employment trends in five energy sectors: fuels; electric power generation; transmission, distribution, and storage; energy efficiency; and motor vehicles. The report found that the U.S. energy sector employed more than 7.5 million workers—a net decline of 10 percent compared to pre-pandemic employment levels. Energy jobs, however, were more resilient and experienced less job loss than other industries.

This report includes detailed data for the 53 separate technologies that comprise the five surveyed sectors. Each of these technologies is, in turn, divided into as many as seven industrial classifications. As a result, the USEER data base provides an in-depth view of the hiring difficulty, in-demand occupations, and demographic composition of very specific portions of the energy and energy efficiency workforce in each state or in specific counties and, in some cases, portions of counties.

The USSER was established by DOE in 2016 under the direction of thirteenth Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. In 2018, EFI and NASEO began co-producing the report to prevent loss of data and continue monitoring annual trends after it was abandoned by the Trump Administration. The report returned to DOE in 2021 under the Biden Administration and Secretary Jennifer Granholm.

The 2021 USEER was presented virtually in July 2021 by Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm during DOE’s roundtable on rebuilding energy jobs after the COVID-19 pandemic During the event, Secretary Granholm acknowledged the leadership and effort by EFI and NASEO to sustain the annual USEER during the Trump Administration. 

I want to thank NASEO and the Energy Futures Initiative, Secretary Moniz, for heroically stepping up when it became clear that the previous administration didn’t plan to meet their obligation…. Know that it is because of you that we know now just how much the energy sector, especially clean energy, has grown in recent years.

Jennifer Granholm, 16th United States Secretary of Energy

The full report, Executive Summary, Fact Sheet, National Report, Appendices, and State Reports were originally published on DOE’s website. Going forward, DOE will completely resume its role as the source to collect, analyze, and publish the annual USEER.

Report Launch