SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT

Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Clean Energy Opportunity to Close the Jobs Gap

March 2026

Southwestern Pennsylvania has a significant opportunity to retain and grow local talent through strategic investment in the clean energy economy. Across Pennsylvania, the clean energy sector already employs roughly 100,000 workers, and analysis suggests that with sustained investment and a trained, available workforce, the industry could support between 162,000 and 243,000 jobs annually.

Yet the region faces several structural challenges: an aging workforce, a mismatch between skills training and available jobs, and too many workers entering roles that, while above the poverty line, fall short of providing a living wage. Without stronger alignment between workforce preparation and emerging energy-sector opportunities, we risk missing a critical moment to expand economic mobility for residents while strengthening the region’s long-term competitiveness.

Sustainable Pittsburgh is addressing this challenge head-on by launching the Future Energy Jobs Hub, a regional, data-driven, interactive platform that connects job seekers to career pathways in construction, advanced manufacturing, and the future energy economy. The platform is designed to address the gap between the number of high-quality family-sustaining jobs and the number of workers prepared to enter the sector. The Future Energy Jobs Hub is ready to fill a vital need and is a model that can be replicated around the country.

• The Hub is a free, easily accessible resource for everyone.
• You can either take an interest quiz that connects you to jobs that best match your interests and characteristics, OR you can input current skills and find career opportunities with similar skills.
• There are two career maps - Construction and Advanced Manufacturing. Each map includes 40-60 potential jobs.
• You can click on any job to see current training programs in the area (some of which are paid apprenticeships). All training programs are linked, so you can apply immediately.
• Every job includes a salary range based on US Labor Bureau statistics for the region.
• Each job also connects to Indeed.com, where you can view real-time job openings.
• You can also look at career trajectories. So while you may start as a plumber's apprentice making anywhere from $37,500 to $50,300 annually, you can easily view a pathway to become a facilities manager who earns around $143,000 a year.

The Future Energy Jobs Hub addresses that gap by:

• Making career pathways transparent
• Clarifying wages and credential requirements
• Highlighting training programs and apprenticeships
• Creating a centralized, interactive access point

This is a blueprint for how regions can operationalize the energy transition to expand equitable access to opportunity.

• The Hub is an initiative of Sustainable Pittsburgh, a regional non-profit organization that catalyzes sustainable economic development solutions in Pennsylvania.
• Sustainable Pittsburgh convened a Clean Energy Workforce Roundtable for 5+ years (70+ regular participants; reach to 300+ stakeholders across industry, education, labor, and workforce development).
• The two interactive Career Maps feature 40–60 roles developed with input from the roundtable including employers, training providers, unions, and job seekers.
• The development of the Hub was the result of roundtable members expressing a need for a centralized, interactive source of information on job training and career opportunities in the future energy sector.
• It was also developed as local employers continue to articulate the need for a workforce trained in the type of energy jobs specific to advanced manufacturing and construction.

Other regions — including Washington State’s maritime workforce initiative and Houston’s energy workforce hub — are developing similar tools. Pittsburgh’s model adds to that growing national movement and offers a working example others can build from.

Resources:

The Future Energy Jobs Hub

Hub Launch Story

Download the FEJ How-To Tri-Fold

Plus...

• Access to research that supports the need for the Hub is also available.
• Involved educators, employers, and trade union representatives are readily available for interviews with you.