Green Keeps Growing

Employment opportunities in the green economy have more than sprouted up in recent years. According to The Pew Charitable Trusts, the number of jobs in America's emerging clean energy economy grew nearly two and a half times faster than overall jobs between 1998 and 2007. Pew research shows that jobs in the clean energy economy grew at a national rate of 9.1 percent, while traditional jobs grew by only 3.7 percent between 1998 and 2007. At the state level, the growth was as noteworthy, with green jobs in 38 states and the District of Columbia outperforming overall job growth.

The growth can be attributed in part to government funding. The $787 billion economic-recovery bill, was signed into law in February, 2010. It includes approximately $62 billion in direct spending on green initiatives and about another $20 billion in green tax incentives.

Although green jobs have grown, every indication is that the growth will continue and accelerate. Green careers are also assigned one of three categories: higher demand occupations, which means the occupations already exist but are expanding due to increased demand for green goods and services; changing skills occupations, which means the occupations already exist but their skill requirements are changing in response to green trends; and new green occupations, which means these are brand new and emerging occupations due to green trends.

For recruiters, the Green Careers section of the CareerOneStop site provides insight into the green job market. The information can also prove helpful in determining what constitutes a green job, a subject of debate, and one that has in fact led people to doubt the impact of the green economy. Those who question the validity of the color green should take a look at the site's list of New Green Occupations, jobs that didn't exist until recently.

Chris Russell, founder of AllCountyJobs.com, launched Green Job Spider, a job search engine that allows job seekers to search for green jobs. The "Google for green jobs" is the first job search engine for green jobs, and the first job search engine for a specific niche. Green Job Spider currently crawls about 20 sites that have been certified as legitimate resources. Each source, whether a green job board, employer or recruiting firm, is reviewed and approved to ensure that it meets the necessary criteria. Jobs are then reviewed to make sure they are truly green. As of mid May, Green Job Spider boasted more than 6,800 green jobs.

Among green jobs, solar jobs currently account for the largest category, Russell says, while labor intensive jobs stand poised to produce the most new jobs. "Sales is also a big part of the green job market," he tells Onrec, indicating Green Job Spider currently has more than 800 jobs with the word sales in the title. "Every company needs sales people. If you can sell, green companies want you."

Once the economy rebounds, green companies may find themselves competing with others for crossover jobs, like those in sales. But for now, the green economy has something going for it that the mainstream economy lacks: it's thriving. For Green Job Spider, continued growth means more jobs to crawl. For Russell, however, it goes beyond the numbers. Green Job Spider is a new online recruitment opportunity that allows him to combine more than a decade of experience with issues that are important to him.

Source: On Rec, Paula Santonocito, 6/3/10