Several trends are shaping the future of green jobs and the growth of the green economy. Entrepreneurs from more established sectors like telecommunication and IT are moving into the green sector. Traditional companies are adding new divisions to take advantage of growing consumer demand for green products and services. And green-tech start-ups are buying up assets from bankrupt old-economy industries and re-purposing them, while energy incumbents are buying up green-tech assets.
Green-tech has seen a significant influx from telecommunication and IT industries. Big-name entrepreneurs such as Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla, Ethernet inventor and 3Com co-founder Bob Metcalfe and Brightmail founder Sunil Paul have moved into green sectors like solar, wind, biofuel, water purification, electric vehicles and smart grid technologies. Employees as well as technologies also are cross pollinating from biotech, nanotech, semiconductor and automotive industries. Play the video below for some additional insight:
The following is information recently reported by one of the top job listing sites. It is very clear from below that job recovery has started in many sectors. Especially encouraging are the increases in job ADs for hospitality and retail as these are good indicators that consumer confidence is increasing – a sure sign that people are spending more money than on the basic necessities. See our JOBS tab or use our JOBS SEARCH to find a job listing that is right for you.
March 2010*
Industry
Job Postings
Annual Change
Accounting
124,153
12%
Construction
87,492
0%
Education
93,224
11%
Financial Services & Banking
205,227
15%
Healthcare
593,545
-4%
Hospitality
78,805
33%
Information Technology
256,866
17%
Manufacturing
80,575
22%
Media and Newspaper
34,930
30%
Real Estate
29,868
29%
Retail
301,849
42%
Transportation
60,579
16%
*Statistical approximations have been used to compute these results.
The 2011 Job Outlook survey from NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers)
The top 5 candidate skills desired by employers:
Verbal Communication Skills
Strong Work Ethic
Teamwork Skills
Analytical Skills
Initiative
Source: Job Outlook 2011, National Association of Colleges and Employers
While the NACE organization focuses on entry-level careers, the above list is important at all levels to stay competitive. So how do you score?
If you are a job seeker do you have specific examples for each of the above skills? Do you have multiple examples that show a range for each? For example, regarding verbal communication skills you might highlight your ability to have difficult conversations, your concise and clear communication style, your engaging presentation style, or your ability to communicate effectively with different types of people. These are all compelling and very different attributes of verbal communication. For strong work ethic, this could mean working long hours, working a volatile or heavy travel schedule, or working in turnaround situations against all odds. You need to know your unique skills and experience to position yourself effectively for what prospective employers care about.
Even if you are happily employed, work environments and priorities change. You want to make sure that you are not getting complacent and allowing your skills to rust. The above five skills are always valued, but the standards by which they are measured change over your career. Maybe you got to where you are now because of superior analytical skills and despite below average communication skills, but now you are a manager. You may not get a pass for your lack of communication skills now because proficiency is measured differently at different levels. On the flip side, maybe you were always a great people person with soft analytical skills, but now you have been promoted to running a budget and need to get the numbers to work. The strengths that served you and the weaknesses you could dismiss might be different now. In addition, as situations and people change, your style and approach might need to be modified.
For both the job seeker and the happily employed, you want to translate the overall top five list to your specific prospective employer’s or current employer’s top five list. You want to know the top five desired skills for your specific industry, functional area at your specific level. These overall survey results are a great framework to start reviewing your skills and experience, but they are not a substitute for paying attention to your market and getting regular feedback from people with whom you regularly interact.
How do you score on these 5 commonly desired skills?
Do you know if these skills match your target or current area?
What do you need to do in the next 30 days, 90 days, 365 days to improve?
Economic Rebound Threatened by Lack of Skilled Workers
According to a recent research paper by Manpower Inc, workers with specialized skills like plumbers, electricians, carpenters, and welders are in very short supply in numerous global economies. “It becomes a real choke-point in future economic growth,” according to Manpower Chief Executive Jeff Joerres. The report went on to say that the shortage of skilled workers is the one of the top hiring challenges in six of the 10 biggest economies.
The report also stated that this problem has been developing since the 1970s. Since that time parents have been coaching their children that a university degree is the ticket to gaining entry into the financially secure “knowledge economy” sometimes also referred to the information age. Joerres also noted that, “all of the skilled trades offer a career path with an almost assured income and also make it possible to open one’s own business”.
The current recession and persistent high unemployment may lead parents coaching their children as well as young people entering the workforce to reconsider their options. The skilled trades category also includes jobs like bricklayers, cabinet makers, painters and butchers or any jobs that typically require a specialist’s certification.
The only place I see green technology being integrated right is in California. There are companies that take the inner city youth and train them in the fields of solar panel installation, retrofitting buildings, green rooftops, etc (link at bottom of page, one example.)
In the Midwest if your not an engineer your chances of getting your foot in the door are slim to none. I believe this creates a major gap between the educated and uneducated (which in this country we know is not accessible to everyone). We will never build a middle class in America with the declination of College Institutions being in the state their in. Life skills are not being taught.
America now ranks as one of the most undereducated countries in the world(http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/09/13/national/main838207.shtml), yet most graduates find themselves 70 to 80k in debt in an economy that’s not hiring. This is a major problem. I know first hand.. I went to school and when I got out in the field, I was retrained in a more real life way. It only took about a week to find out I could have apprenticed my way up and that nobody gave a hoot about my little certificate piece of paper, or my accolades I obtained in school.. Still I was 24,000 dollars in debt to an institution that had no concern of my future but loved sending me my bill. It made me realize that our educational system in mimicking, banking system, and that system is mimicking our governmental system and then everything became clear. Most people in higher places have for along time understood, to put people in debt is the best way to (without sounding too harsh) really enslave us.
I think we need to start from our grass roots again; our brothers and sisters, neighbors and family need to help one another out and stop sending all of our hard earned money to these institutions and keep it in our communities and privately owned business. One of the people I look up to on issues like this is Catherine Austin Fittz you might want to check her out at solari.com. Truth of it is, America needs a whole new way of putting people back to work. The Teddy Roosevelt’s of yesteryear are gone.. you know, those people that understood how to put men and women to work and built the greatest country in the world. There is nothing equal to field training and/or apprenticeship, nothing! I’m sick and tired of this mythological green movement that is ever so elusive being the next comparative thing to the computer era or automotive era yet the only way to do it is become an engineer? I’m sorry, the basics of electricity are not that hard, then you can work with a mentor from that point on.. Every job posted I see is for an engineer! I’m getting too old (35) and I am too broke to go back to another school that’s going to suck another 20k out of me.
In a perfect world, there would be someone out there that understood this gap, someone that understood that the only way to really learn something is to mess it up enough times until you get it right. To have someone with you that had been there and had done it, to educate you along the way.
I write this not only because I’m just looking to make a paycheck. This new technology excites me, I want to be a part of something that’s positive in what seems to be such a negative time. Most of all I want to see our men and women working gain, and not just let the Chinese take and do everything for us. As patriots, we should be very weary of globalists and return more back to an isolationist view, I personally think. Thanks once again for your time, and I hope for brighter futures for us all.
But really there’s hundreds more, just Google inner city youth back to work California.
Chicago’s mayor also is leaping ahead nicely.
END
Editors Note:The above unedited commentary does not necessarily represent the view of the NRGspot.com. We have published this to give our readers a passionatereal life perspective of one person’s trials and tribulations with respect to finding a green job. If you should be able to help Dan in his quest to find a green job, have a some insight to share or constructive commentary please e-mail us at info(at)nrgspot.com
Green Collar Jobs Still an Answer to Employment Crisis
By Tay Yoshitani
CEO, Port of Seattle
The most recent government employment reports have been disappointing because they show a profound lack of job creation on the part of the private sector.
In addition to calling the health of the overall U.S. economy into question, many analysts say that the latest data raise troubling issues about the viability of clean technology as a positive force for 21st-century prosperity. After all, we’ve been told repeatedly that legions of new green-collar jobs will materialize and generate growth for communities all across the nation.
These are the next waves of the green-collar job revolution. And, if we’re fortunate and far-sighted, I believe that this revolution can lift our nation higher — much higher — as it reaches for even greater prosperity in the decades to come.
I believe the analysts are wrong; my view remains that the creation and proliferation of well-paying green-collar jobs in America will ultimately help us address the biggest employment crisis since the Great Depression.
“Twitter” is the #1 job trend – the fastest growing term over the last year – beating “Cloud Computing” into second place and “iPhone” into third place. Click on the Jobs Search tab to search for “Green Twitter” openings.
AMONIX SECURES $129 MILLION IN PRIVATE EQUITY FINANCING
Amonix, Inc., a leading designer and manufacturer of concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power systems, announced that it has recently raised a $129 million Series B financing round led by Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers. Amonix will use the proceeds to accelerate deployments of its systems and expand their manufacturing capacity. In 2010, they also received $9.5 million in stimulus funding as part of the federal Recovery Act’s Advanced Energy Manufacturing Tax Credit, which will lead to 269 new clean energy manufacturing jobs in Nevada and 167 new jobs in Arizona.
Amonix designs and manufactures concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar power systems that require less water, use land better, and produce more energy per acre than any other solar technology available today. With a long track record of real-world deployments, they have proven themselves to be one of the best choices for utility grade solar power systems in sunny and dry climates. Amonix is headquartered in Seal Beach, California. For more information, visit http://www.amonix.com.
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