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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Study: "Green Jobs" Now Strongly Rooted in Construction & Design Sectors

10/13/2011
According to a new study by McGraw-Hill Construction, green jobs are now firmly rooted in the design and construction sectors. The report revealed that 35 percent of architects, engineers and contractors surveyed said they hold green jobs; those positions represent 661,000 jobs in the industry. That substantial share is expected to increase over the next three years, with 45 percent of all design and construction jobs expected to be green by 2014.

"Green jobs are already an important part of the construction labor workforce, and signs are that they will become industry standard," said Harvey Bernstein, VP of Industry Insights and Alliances for McGraw-Hill Construction. "These numbers reported by the industry match our Dodge green building market sizing; so as green takes over construction activity, so too will green take over the construction workforce."

Trades jobs (carpenters, HVAC/boilermakers, electricians, concrete/cement masons and plumbers) are expected to see the greatest growth in green jobs. The research found that 15 percent of trades today are green jobs, and this is expected to increase to 25 percent in three years. According to respondents, green jobs yield advantages such as more opportunity (42 percent) and better career advancement (41 percent).

Training is key to getting and maintaining green jobs. Thirty percent of green job workers said they needed major training when they started, and most reported that formal education and training programs will continue to be needed. Hiring companies concur. Seventy-one percent of hiring decision-makers believe that being green-certified increases competitiveness.

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