Source:
"The number of jobs in the German renewables sector (production and installation) has almost halved from about 300,000 in 2011 to around 150,000 in 2018, the German Trade Union Association (DGB) found in an analysis of employment in the energy transition.
At the same time, the number of jobs in operation and maintenance of renewable power installations grew from about 50,000 to 80,000 during this period.
The overall drop in employment has been mostly due to the collapse of Germany's solar power industry over the past decade, as many companies were forced out of business thanks to cheaper competitors from China ...
The number of jobs in solar PV panel production and installation fell from a record 133,000 in 2011 to under 28,000 seven years later.
In the wind industry, employment dropped from its record level of roughly 108,000 in 2016 to under 70,000 just two years later.
... 60 percent of jobs in the renewables sector are still in production – "and the lowest point here might not have been reached yet," the union warned.
The DGB also said that other analyses have given quite different levels of employment in the sector, arguing that a better definition and standardisation of what is counted as jobs in the renewables industry is needed.
The union concluded that "employment in the renewables industry is still massively influenced by the political agenda," meaning that regulatory changes instantly translate into layoffs or hires."