Green Collar Jobs on the Rise, says SJI

In July of 2008, the Seattle Jobs Initiative released their Job Trends Report with a spotlight on “green jobs”. Estimates predict that investments in the green economy in Washington State could as much as quadruple the number of green jobs by the year 2020.

The industries which contain many of the blue-collar jobs going green are Construction, Manufacturing, and Utilities. The green-collar jobs are the same blue-collar jobs that have been around for decades, including roofers.

The variety of occupations and industries within the green economy is extensive. The current market demand and available workforce for green jobs is largely reflective of their traditional blue-collar counterparts. In essence, the majority of these green jobs are the existing traditional skilled trades jobs, varied only by the possibility for specialization or material use.

Blue or Green, it doesn’t matter.
A trade job for a traditional roofer and a roofer installing solar panels or solar shingles, differ only in specialized knowledge and skills. However, in terms of training and wages, the two are virtually equal from a business aspect. Some of the electrical work may have to be sub-contracted as well.

Diversity is key in any trade. As traditional roofing schemes of asphalt give way to greener alternatives, it is logical to say that one side would be shrinking. One day a roofer will be working on a shingle job in Oswego, IL. Then the next day or two, they will be doing a solar panel retrofit up the street in Batavia, IL.

It is not just the high tech solar technologies that a roofing company can expect job growth. Other technologies such as cool roofs and green roofs are making their marks.

The potential growth in green job sectors could likely be stunted by any declining labor shortage within these industries, in terms of both quantity and quality of available workers. The lack of a skilled workforce is the largest non-technical barrier to the advancement of green building technologies.

The complete report (PDF): SJI Jobs Trend Report (July 2008)

No related posts.