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Corporate marketing materials, the media, talking heads – everywhere we turn, green is being hyped as a panacea for all that ails America, or to quote Thomas Friedman, “Green is the new Red, White, and Blue”.
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It’s a big bandwagon that comprises a wide spectrum of ideologies, from Al Gore to Christian Evangelicals, and from small green businesses to Wal-Mart and GE. But looking beyond greenwashing and the pumped-up green public relations blitz, where are the real opportunities for jobseekers?

Trends in Green Collar Jobs

Scanning the green economy in its current state, some major themes recur:

• Firms are upgrading and revamping legacy systems, products and services to become more environmentally-conscious, i.e. limiting harm to the environment, restoring prior damage and contributing measurable future environmental benefits.
  
  
• A vast cohort of relevant new products and services is in development, both by start-ups and by new ‘green divisions’ of big companies.
  
  
• Older workers are avidly re-skilling to qualify for emergent green collar jobs, refreshing their resumes to better reflect their values and commitment to a more environmentally-benign future.
  
  
• Schools and students are crafting their academic programs to meet the evolving need for workers who are conversant in the science, art and mechanics of the green economy.

What are the most promising industries for Green Collar workers?

• Green Building Field
  If you’re an architect, engineer, draftsman or project manager with experience in the green building field, the world is your oyster. Demand for trained professionals is huge, competition keen, and salary scales among the highest in the sustainable-energy world.
  
  
• Skilled Tradesmen
  Electricians, machinists and steel workers, who have been trained in renewable-technology skills, will be required in large numbers for sustainable building construction, solar panel and solar thermal systems installation, building of wind turbines, and other infrastructure projects.
  
  The commissioning, operation, and maintenance of these renewable-energy systems will also yield stable, well-paying jobs that can’t be outsourced.
  
  
• Certification, Labeling, and Training
  These programs are new and necessary in the green economy. In the building design and construction field, the LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) program, managed by the U.S. Green Building Council, certifies green building projects against established industry benchmarks.
  
  Trade unions are also in the forefront of training and certifying workers for jobs in the green building trades.
  
  
• Transportation
  Auto workers and other transportation professionals will find job opportunities, from the development of alternative fuels to building hybrid vehicles, re-thinking public transit schemes, and improving urban transport systems. There are new transportation solutions that didn’t exist a decade ago, such as the car-sharing firm ZipCar and the Seattle Bike Project.
  
  
• Services
  In the service professions, green law isn’t just environmental lawsuits anymore; opportunities will grow for contract attorneys versed in the legal implications of green building, environmental health and safety, IPOs for green companies…in fact for most aspects of business law. Ditto for insurance professionals, accountants and office support personnel.
  
  
• Information Technology
  Green computing is wide open for consulting opportunities; consultants assist companies with purchasing of economical, energy-efficient hardware, reducing the use of harmful materials, managing waste disposal, and training company staff on energy-saving computer use.
  
  
• Hospitality and Tourism
  These industries have gone green in a big way, mostly because it’s good for business. As with other industries that have drunk the green Kool-Aid, consumer demand has driven the growth of green products and services for the food and lodging, travel and tourism sectors.
  
  Experts are needed to develop, build and market environmentally-sound properties, to source and manage green materials, foods and other products, and to guide travelers toward eco-friendly tourist venues and activities.
  
  
• Green Home
  Products and services for the Green Home offer unlimited prospects for inventors and distributors of eco-friendly cleaning materials, fabrics, light bulbs, recycled and recyclable paper products…a torrent of green is now pouring onto the market.
  
  Home eco-consultants help clients with energy-efficient heating, lighting, landscaping, decorating, and clothes shopping choices – valuable services for busy homeowners who can’t navigate through all the research alone. Home party companies have sprung up, such as Green Irene, creating jobs that take the Mary Kay concept into the 21st century.
  
  
• Natural Resources and Environmental Management
  These job options will grow with the need to preserve existing resources and offset the effects of climate change. Protecting and maintaining our air, water and other natural assets will be key jobs in the coming decades as awareness grows of the fragility of our ecosystems, and the political will is found to fund the necessary environmental initiatives.
  
  
• Other Industries
  Many, in fact most, industries and professions, from manufacturing to marketing to teaching, are being informed by the movement towards transformative change that wears the ‘green’ label.

Bottom Line

The growth of green energy, green jobs and green innovation won’t be much impeded by uncertainty on Wall St.: we now inhabit a more environmentally-conscious country and planet, and the building of a sustainable framework for our future makes economic as well as social sense.

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© Copyright, 2009, Kathleen Lyons. Job-Hunt's Green Jobs Job Search expert, Kathleen Lyons, is a workforce training and performance support specialist, and the publisher and editor of Green Job Idea Blog. She believes that the emerging green economy offers huge opportunities for both white- and blue-collar job seekers to find satisfying and meaningful work. Kathleen holds membership in the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA), Co-op America, The International EcoTourism Club and the Cape & Islands Renewable Energy Collaborative.