Transmitting a Communication from City Manager Yi-An Huang relative to the 2025/2026 Green Jobs Initiative Report

Over the past year, Cambridge has strengthened its commitment to carbon reduction, climate mitigation, and sustainability by establishing the Office of Sustainability, hiring a Chief Climate Officer and Green Jobs Specialist, and advancing key initiatives. These include preparing for the launch of Building Energy Use Disclosure Ordinance (BEUDO) emissions reduction requirements for large commercial buildings in 2026, launching a new program to support commercial and large-residential buildings installing rooftop solar, and implementing a heat justice project to update the Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment (CCVA) heat strategy and guide a community-led seed project.

Massachusetts Climate Industry Overview

The clean energy and climate tech industry in Massachusetts continues to grow, supported by proactive state-level investment. The Mass Leads Act established a robust 10-year strategy to support climate tech companies, which include any business creating innovative technological solutions that mitigate the impacts of climate change, help communities adapt, and build resilience in systems and infrastructure. It provides approximately $1.35 billon to the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), covering such items as offshore wind, early deployment projects, and tax incentives. In total, the Act will sustain momentum in job creation and innovation across the state.

Clean Energy and Climate Tech in Massachusetts

Over the past year, Massachusetts continued to see growth in the clean energy sector. The 2024 MassCEC Industry Report highlights the following trends1: • In 2024, there was a total of 115,291 clean energy jobs in the state, a 5% increase from 2023 (compared to a 1% increase in overall jobs in MA) • 22% increase in clean transportation jobs since 2023.

MA was #1 nationally for the highest rate of growth in electric vehicle jobs in 2024. • Women and minority workers continue to be underrepresented in the industry’s high-growth and high paying positions. For example, Hispanic or Latine workers make up 40% of insulation workers in Massachusetts, but only 4% of mechanical or electrical engineers.

Women are underrepresented industry-wide, particularly in some of the high-growth occupations, such as electricians, just 3% of whom are women. • All clean energy sectors experienced a growth rate between 2023-2024.

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• Installation businesses (e.g. solar, HVAC) represent the largest portion of the industry with the highest growth rate (7%), adding 2,239 workers between 2023 and 2024.

Image courtesy of MassCEC 2024 Industry Report.

Workforce Needs

In 2023 MassCEC completed “A Massachusetts Clean Energy Workforce Needs

Assessment”, a comprehensive report analyzing the substantial investments needed to ramp up the clean energy workforce for Massachusetts to meet its 2030 climate goals and

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forge a path to Net Zero. The study details the clean energy workforce needed by 2030 as seen through regional, occupational, and equity lenses.

To meet the state’s 2030 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, the state will need to fill over 38,000 green jobs by 2030.2 Many of the fastest-growing occupations- such as electricians, HVAC-R mechanics and installers, and construction trades- already face supply shortages and aging workforces, underscoring the urgency of expanding training capacity and attracting new entrants.

Specifically, electricians and Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVAC-R) Mechanics and Installers are at severe risk of experiencing labor shortages; Electric Power-Line Installers and Repairers, Construction Laborers and Construction and Building Inspectors (including Energy Analysts and Home Energy Raters raters) are at high risk of falling short of the need; and Insulation Workers, Cost Estimators, and Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters are at moderate risk of a supply shortage.

Most of these occupations do not require a bachelor’s degree, but do entail additional training or education and, in the case of electricians, an extended apprenticeship period of up to five years of training to reach the full licensed status needed to work independently on jobs.

A 2025 MassINC report published in June underscored this need, estimating that meeting the state’s 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets would require almost 6,000 workers employed annually in the building trades, with electricians accounting for 75% of this total.3

Boston-Metro Area Green Jobs Landscape

The Greater Boston region is expected to experience the largest increase in clean energy workers of any other region in Massachusetts between 2022 and 2030, projected at 12,340 additional full-time jobs.2 From 2023 to 2024 alone, the region added 2,277 new clean energy positions.1 However, meeting this growing demand will require expanding the capacity of the education and training system to ensure that residents are prepared to enter and advance in these fields. The chart below shows the highest growth occupations in Metro Boston.

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Image courtesy of the MassCEC Clean Energy Workforce Needs Assessment Report, July 2023 Currently, there are approximately 100 identified training and academic programs in the Greater Boston area focused on clean energy priority occupations. While 42% of all projected clean energy jobs by 2030 will be located in the region, only 20% of related vocational and technical high school programs are based here, indicating a significant capacity gap.

Major organizations like community colleges, unions, non-profits and private institutions provide clean energy and green workforce training that are available to Cambridge residents. For example, IBEW 103’s Joint Apprentice Training Committee (JATC) offers a highly competitive, paid electrician apprenticeship. Most training opportunities are concentrated in and around downtown Boston, making them less accessible to residents in outlying neighborhoods.

Although public transit improves regional access, “last-mile” travel, early work hours, limited program schedules, and training costs remain substantial barriers to accessing training and, ultimately, employment in the field—particularly for residents who are low-income or have other barriers to employment. The clear need to create additional programs to address the workforce gap has resulted in two new efforts in Metro Boston.

The City of Boston’s Boston Climate Jobs Alliance, launched in 2025 and supported by funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, seeks to “train and place Boston residents into over 1,200 jobs that enhance the City's climate and coastal resilience over four years." The grant funding will be used to develop additional programs and capacity to train and employ Boston residents.

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In the MetroNorth workforce investment region, of which Cambridge is a part, a grant from

MassCEC to the MetroNorth MassHire Workforce Investment Board will support a new

HVAC Technical Training Program offered in partnership with Somerville High School’s