Green Jobs Research in the Northwest

The Oregon Employment Department is not the only group in the Northwest conducting research related to green jobs. Both Washington and Idaho also received grant funds from the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) to conduct research. In addition, the Montana Department of Labor and Industry is leading a group of six states researching green industries and occupations.

The Washington Employment Security Department conducted two surveys on green jobs. The results showed that:

• Nearly 100,000 green jobs exist in Washington, equaling more than 3 percent of the state's employment

• Of the state's green jobs, nearly half are related to preventing and reducing environmental pollution.

Washington also plans to use grant funds to improve access to their green jobs information.

The Idaho Department of Labor is using grant funds to conduct a job vacancy survey and develop career ladders and lattices for green jobs. These career ladders and lattices show how a worker can move through a career by acquiring additional knowledge and skills through education, training, or work experience.

Idaho researchers hope to identify how many job openings exist in the state and how many require green knowledge and skills.

The Montana Department of Labor and Industry, along with six other states, want to know if the mix of occupations needed for green companies differs from non-green companies.

• A "new hires" survey will examine what attributes enable new workers to be successful.

• Identifying new green projects in these seven states will help measure the economic impacts of green occupations and jobs.

To learn more about the green jobs in Oregon, visit www.QualityInfo.org/green