Sustainability Layoffs: Who Is Cutting Green IT and Climate Technology Jobs?

The overall sustainability job market remains strong -- as businesses seek employees to fill green IT, renewable energy, and energy transition jobs. Still, the rising tide of green jobs will not lift all boats. In fact, some climate tech, renewable energy and sustainability-focused businesses have issued layoffs.

The anecdotal evidence: Sustainability-oriented companies and green energy business units announcing staff cuts in 2024 (so far) and 2023 have included...

July 2024 Layoffs

• First Mode, a Seattle-based company that’s concentrating on reducing carbon emissions in mining and other heavy industries, will have layoffs in August 2024, GeekWire reported.
• Microsoft cut two employees from its diversity and inclusion team, GeekWire reported. Some media outlets erroneously said Microsoft laid off that entire time.
• SolarEdge Technologies plans to lay off 400 employees, of which 200 are in Israel, as it works to restore profitability and ensure financial stability, Reuters reported. This is the second round of SolarEdge Layoffs in 2024.

June 2024 Layoffs

• Microsoft layoffs will impact hundreds of Azure cloud services employees, Business Insider reported. We don't know if the job cuts involve Microsoft's SaaS-based sustainability software applications. The job cuts surfaced within days of job cuts at rival Google Cloud.
• Google Cloud made sweeping job cuts, Business Insider reported. We don't know if the job cuts involve Google's sustainability software applications.

May 2024 Job Cuts

• Siemens Energy wind turbine division -- known as Siemens Gamesa -- plans to cut 4,100 jobs, or around 15% of its workforce, the unit's Chief Executive Jochen Eickholt said in an internal letter to staff, Reuters reported.
• EV maker Fisker had more job cuts this week, according to an Electric Vehicles report.
• EV maker Great Wall Motor is laying off 100 or so GWM employees in Europe, multiple reports said. GWM, based in China, is struggling on the international front amid heavy tariffs in Europe and the United States.
• Shell will cut staff from its offshore wind business as CEO Wael Sawan moves the company away from the capital-intensive renewable energy sector, Bloomberg reported.
• Barclays cut some employees from a team of more than 100 bankers focused on energy transition, Bloomberg reported. The cuts, which are part of broader job cuts at the company, included staffers with expertise in climate technologies, such as carbon capture and hydrogen, the report said.

April 2024 Staff Cuts

• SunPower layoffs will impact 1,000 employees, and the solar energy company will end direct sales to focus on channel partner engagements.
• Lion Electric Company staff cuts impacted roughly 120 employees, or roughly 9% of workers at the electric vehicle (EV) truck and school bus maker.
• Rivian cut about 1% of its workforce - the second round of job cuts in 2024, Reuters reported.
• Tesla layoffs will impact more than 10% of employees.
• Greentown Labs, a climate technology incubator, cut 30% of its staff.

March 2024 Layoffs

• Longi Green Technology Energy Co., the world’s largest solar manufacturer, is cutting almost one-third of its staff.

February 2024 Job Cuts

• Rivian layoffs will impact 10% of salaried jobs, the EV (electric vehicle) automaker disclosed.
• Plug Power announced job cuts as part of a "strategic expense reduction plan" that's designed to save the hydrogen energy company more than $75 million annually. The company did not say how many employees will lose their jobs.

January 2024 Staff Cuts

• Albemarle layoffs will impact roughly 300 employees or approximately 4% of staff amid falling lithium prices.
• Duke Energy confirmed "limited" staff cuts amid the company's clean energy transition.
• SolarEdge layoffs will impact 16% of staff at the solar technology company.
• SunPower apparently will have job cuts as part of a restructuring plan designed to cut the solar energy company's operating costs.
• ChargePoint layoffs will impact 12% of its workforce, the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure company announced. ChargePoint changed CEOs in November 2023, and announced an earlier round of layoffs in September 2023.
• NuScale Power layoffs will involve roughly 28% of staff at the modular nuclear reactor company. The staff cuts come at a key time for both NuScale and the broader energy market -- where the United States is racing to compete against Russia and China on multiple nuclear and energy transition fronts.

December 2023 Layoffs

• Palmetto layoffs involved an undisclosed number of staff cuts at the solar energy software company.
• Enphase Energy layoffs will impact 10% of its global workforce, CEO Badri Kothandaraman disclosed in a letter to employees at the solar energy technology company.
• Cruise layoffs will impact 24% of staff or roughly 900 employees at the General Motors (GM) self-driving car business unit.
• Rivian Automotive layoffs impacted roughly 20 employees working on long-range battery cells, The Information reported.

November 2023 Job Cuts

The job cut announcements included...

• Our Next Energy (ONE) layoffs involved 25% staff cuts at the electric vehicle (EV) battery maker and energy storage company.
• Origin Materials layoffs involved 30% staff cuts, the carbon negative materials company disclosed.
• LG Energy Solution layoffs will impact roughly 170 employees between December 2023 and January 2024, The Holland Sentinel of Michigan reported. The business develops EV (electric vehicle) batteries for U.S. automakers. Key customers include Volvo, Stellantis, Ford and General Motors.
• Tritium DCFC is planning layoffs and an Australia factory closure. The goal: Achieve a path to profitability in 2024, the fast-growing but money-losing electric vehicle (EV) charging technology company said.

October 2023 Staff Cuts

The job cut announcements included...

• Bloom Energy layoffs will impact roughly 100 employees in Fremont and Sunnyvale, California, according to Silicon Valley Business Journal. Bloom Energy's flagship product -- known as an Energy Server -- is a distributed power generation platform. The fuel cell technology converts natural gas, biogas, or hydrogen into electricity without combustion, resulting in low or no CO2 emission, the journal's report said.
• Shell layoffs will impact about 15% of the energy company's Low Carbon Solutions (LCS) employees, Reuters reported.
• Navigator CO2 layoffs arrived amid pushback to the proposed Heartland Greenway project -- which involves a carbon capture pipeline and greenhouse gas (GHG) storage system.
• Flexport layoffs impacted 20% of staff at the supply chain software and logistics startup. The layoffs surfaced one month after numerous executive suite changes at the company.
• Maxeon Solar Technologies layoffs impacted roughly 15% of the solar company's global workforce.

September 2023 Layoffs

The job cut announcements included...

• Morningstar Sustainalytics layoffs impacted roughly 10% to 12% of employees at the ESG (environmental, social, governance) data, research and ratings firm.
• ChargePoint layoffs hit 10% of its staff and reorganized operations amid weaker-than-expected quarterly revenue guidance from the electric vehicle (EV) charging station network company.

What did we miss? Send me details about a green IT and sustainable technology layoffs (Joe@MentoreVentures.com), and we'll potentially update the timeline above.

Sustainability and Green Technology Jobs: Climate Tech Training Programs

Despite those anecdotal job cuts, demand for green jobs in the United States has grown roughly 50% since 2019, according to Lightcast.

In response, companies such as Accenture, EY, Goodwill and Microsoft have launched green jobs training programs.