Consider Going Green With a ‘Green-Collar Job’

These areas are expected to fuel significant economic growth and job creation over the next decade. They are expected to rival that of the late 1990s dot-com boom and the housing boom of the early 2000s.

As gasoline has eclipsed $4 per gallon and growing concern over global warming calls for short-term and long-term solutions, more and more companies are going green not only with their products but also with their operations. The movement is creating increased demand for workers in so-called “green-collar jobs” in the form of engineers, architects, project managers and consultants.

As this trend continues, more workers will be needed to implement designs and build projects. This will potentially create 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.

This figure includes about 4.8 million indirect jobs such as accountants, computer analysts and truck drivers. 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. The demand for workers is already evident. A brief review of a few Web sites specializing in environmental and alternative energy jobs uncovered about 1,500 job listings.

Green Dream Jobs lists 380 opportunities including a communications director, a field energy consultant, a project specialist, an operations director, a program information analyst, a green information technology coordinator and a director of business development.

Additional openings can be found through traditional job sites such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com 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 didn’t exist.

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

In 2005, Wal-Mart began its environmental sustainability initiative with the eventual goal of being supplied 100 percent by renewable energy. Wal-Mart also wants to create zero waste and sell products that sustain natural resources and the environment. This initiative has created many new positions at the retailer’s corporate headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.

Among the sustainability positions currently posted on the Wal-Mart career site are a senior director of safety and environmental compliance, a senior energy manager, a director of sustainability and a senior director of sustainability sourcing.

Then, of course, there are more and more jobs that will be created by companies researching and developing alternative sources of energy. These firms, which once found it difficult to secure funding, are now the darlings of venture capitalists. These companies will need workers to construct solar-powered buildings, cars, wind turbines and alternative fuels.

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

Dominican University of California offers graduate students the option to receive an M.B.A. in “sustainable enterprise”. This green program integrates sustainability principles within each course.

A sampling of their course offerings includes critical thinking for leadership in business redesign, eco-commerce models, managerial and environmental accounting, social impacts of enterprises, green and social marketing, thriving regenerative enterprise and ecological economics. Antioch University New England and Bainbridge Graduate Institute are offering similar programs.

The Vermont Law School has begun offering a J.D. and a master’s in environmental law. All in all, the degrees offer job seekers an additional market value. In addition to possessing the knowledge of traditional M.B.A. holders, they also hold fresh ideas to enable the business world to increase their environmental responsibility.