Job growth might be ‘green collar’

CHICAGO, ILL.
July 28, 2008 5:34am

Students preparing to enter or return to the nation’s colleges and universities in the coming weeks would be well advised to consider educational paths that lead to careers in burgeoning fields related to the environment, ecology and alternative energy, advises a company that specialized in outplacement services for those losing their jobs.

Significant economic growth and job creation over the next decade, rivaling that of the late 1990s dot.com boom and the housing boom of the early 2000s, may come with growth of “green” industries, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

The movement is creating increased demand for workers in so-called “green-collar” jobs in the form of engineers, architects, project managers, consultants, Challenger says. As this trend continues, more workers will be needed to implement designs and build projects, potentially creating thousands of jobs.

A recent forecast issued by the American Solar Energy Society reported that renewable energy and energy-efficient industries were responsible for the creation of nearly 8.5 million jobs in 2006, a figure which includes about 4.8 million indirect jobs such as accountants, computer analysts and truck drivers, says Challenger.

By 2030, the number of direct and indirect jobs related to renewable energy and energy efficiency is expected to reach 40 million, according to the organization’s outlook.

With an expected growth rate of about 1.3 million new jobs per year through 2030, “green collar” jobs could present the best career opportunities for a generation of college graduates.

In a brief review of a few websites specializing in environmental and alternative energy jobs, Challenger, Gray & Christmas uncovered about 1,500 job listings.

Green Dream Jobs (www.sustainablebusiness.com) lists 380 opportunities, including communications director, field energy consultant, project specialist, operation director, program information analyst, green information technology coordinator and director of business development.

“Additional openings can be found through traditional job sites, such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder, as well as through state and federal employment sites. Furthermore, the push toward increased environmental responsibility is creating new ‘green collar’ jobs in a number of industries and companies where these positions previously did not exist,” says John Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray and Christmas.

“For example, more and more building design firms are seeking architects and engineers with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) accreditation as their clients seek environmentally friendly offices. Other companies, such as Wal-Mart, are hiring people to achieve its goals of decreasing its impact on the environment,” says Mr. Challenger.

The biggest obstacle in the growth of green-collar jobs could be the lack of skilled workers. However, as demand increases for workers in these fields, colleges and universities are instituting specialized degree programs to supply the future green-collar workforce, Challenger notes.

Dominican University of California offers graduate students the option to receive a Master of Business Administration in Sustainable Enterprise. Antioch University New England, Bainbridge Graduate Institute and New College are offering similar programs. Vermont Law School has begun offering a J.D. and a Masters of Studies in Environmental Law.

“The degrees offer job seekers an additional market value. Not only do they possess the knowledge of traditional MBA holders, they hold fresh ideas, enabling the business world to increase their environmental responsibility,” says Mr. Challenger.

Comments on this story

Kevin Gulley 7/28/08 11:34 AM
This is the kind of story we need more of. Green Collar Jobs run the gamut from high-end, traditionally white collar jobs to installation and manufacturing jobs, generally seen as blue collar. At http://www.greencollareconomy.com, we have thousands of visitors per month reviewing our green collar jobs board. The great thing about sustainability - which is very different from the dot com bubble - is that we need to rethink the way we MAKE things to become more green. With the dot coms, virtually all of the creation was intellectual property - with the exception of businesses like Dell and Cisco. Going green is going to impact every aspect of our economy and will drive a lot more change than the dot com era did.