Finding the Green Workforce

While there may always be room for debate concerning clean energy initiatives and the long-term merits of a low carbon driven economy, what remains is the fact that the renewable industry is growing rapidly and it requires a substantial workforce.

As renewable energy continues to establish itself in the global market, an emerging concern is how to fill the industry’s need for skilled workers. According to a poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management, 40 percent of HR professionals say their organization is currently focused on creating green jobs or adding green duties to existing jobs. Further, a comprehensive report from the American Solar Energy Society forecasts that more than 17 percent of all anticipated U.S. employment could be generated from the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries over the next two decades. The need and opportunity for a green workforce is apparent, but are there enough skilled workers to meet demands?

The good news is there has been a tremendous cultivation of resources for training, funding and development in the renewable energy sector within the past five years. A good number of educational providers have expanded or modified their curriculums to include renewable education and training programs in response to the growing demand.

The U.S. government has also stepped up its efforts, paving the way in funding to support the creation of a competent green workforce through programs supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009(ARRA). The U.S. Department of Labor’s Program of Competitive Grants for Worker Training and Placement in High Growth and Emerging Industry Sectors has been allotted $750 million through the ARRA to provide competitive grants for worker training and placement. Of that, $500 million is specifically for research, labor exchange and job training projects that will prepare workers for careers in the renewable energy and energy efficiency industries.

Companies in and outside of the renewable sector have also begun to invest in developing their own training courses in the hopes of attracting the workforce they are seeking and repurposing positions for renewables.

Now for the bad news; although there is an existing abundance of resources to support the establishment of a multi-level green workforce, there are far less available to bring these initiatives together or provide information to help establish realistic industry standards for recruitment. Which begs the question, is there truly a shortage of qualified workers or simply a shortage of renewable focused information, standards and hiring resources?

To move forward in creating the workforce needed for the renewable sector there must be a collaborative effort to establish a framework for industry knowledge, recruitment and training that will evolve into recognized standards as the industry matures. Establishing an understanding of just what quantifies a green job will lead to helping to define what is required to fill one. Developing resources to share information between industry insiders, education providers and recruiters will help balance expectation, shape training programs and, more importantly, highlight how existing skills can be re-tooled to benefit the emerging green industry.

One of the more attractive aspects of renewable energy is how balanced the industry is in providing career building paths across a vast array of skill sets. Low- to medium-skilled workers are needed for manufacturing, installation and maintenance; while highly skilled employees are needed for research, development and leading the commissioning of renewable services.

The issue does not appear to be a lack of workers to fill these roles but a lack of information and expectations on the part of those seeking workers. Until standards are established and enough time has elapsed to develop a seasoned body of workers within the industry, it’s simply not plausible for companies and recruiters to require advanced degrees in specific renewable niches or the equivalent amount of experience in service to it.

An available option is to take a more realistic inventory of the existing workforce with the purpose of grooming it for the green industry. Among those who are unemployed or underemployed there is the opportunity to utilize existing skills or higher-level disciplines that can be restructured to work within the renewable energy sector. Veteran solar engineers may not be numerous, but environmental engineers are certainly available.

Recent technical or college graduates are in a unique position to offer fresh perspectives, a clean learning slate and innovative thinking to an industry that is still forming itself. Those entering the workforce as unskilled laborers will not only benefit from highly subsidized training in a growing sector but can also provide the industry with the workforce needed to build its infrastructure through apprenticeships and vocational rehabilitation programs.

Meeting the demands of the renewable industry is not only attainable, but under many circumstances requires a very manageable investment on behalf of the industry. Finding the green workforce could be as simple as utilizing what is right in front of us.