Renewable Energy Sources and Their Impact on Polish Labor Market in the Context of Global Energy Problems

The aim of this article is to analyze potential directions of Renewable Energy Sector (RES) development and its impact on the labor market: assessing job-creating potential of renewable energy sector in Poland. The paper focuses primarily on electricity generation technologies like wind power stations and solid biomass. The comparison between employment level for RES sector and other sectors shows the scale of the impact of renewable energy development on the labor market in Poland and on the country’s economy overall. Our findings show that currently, the total number of jobs created because of the development of wind energy (11 500), solid biomass (18 800) and solar energy (2 750) exceeds employment in the coke industry (4 000), cement (6 000) and lignite mines (5 000). According to the author’s research, the results of the study indicate that the construction of, for example, wind power plants is not only an opportunity for local communities to create additional employment, but it also provides an opportunity to enrich the community with various types of taxes.