Earth Day 2014: Occupations with Green Jobs

Today is the 44th anniversary of Earth Day.  People all over the globe are doing a bit extra today to pay respects to the environment, nature, and living green. In Oregon, we have a significant group of workers that spend every day making a positive impact on their natural surroundings. These are Oregon's green job workers. At last count, green jobs made up 3 percent of Oregon's total employment.

We define a green job as one with essential job duties that provide a service or produce a product in any of these categories:

• Increasing energy efficiency
• Producing renewable energy
• Preventing, reducing, or mitigating environmental degradation
• Cleaning up and restoring the natural environment
• Providing education, consulting, policy promotion, accreditation, or other services supporting the above categories

As part of the Green Jobs Labor Market Information (LMI) Improvement Grant of 2009, the Oregon Employment Department studied 13 occupations extensively that are considered more likely to have duties meeting our green jobs criteria.   Here is a snapshot of the most recent statistics on these occupations based on the Oregon Employment Department's Employment Projections by Industry and Occupation:

The occupations listed here are expected to grow by 21.5 percent between 2012 and 2022.  Occupational growth across all jobs in Oregon is expected to be 15.4 percent. To be clear, not all of those employed in these occupations have green jobs. To be a green job holder, the definition above still needs to be met. However, those employed in the listed occupations are more likely to meet the definition.

This is the first time employment data have been available for solar photovoltaic installers and wind turbine service technicians. Wind turbine service technicians are expected to grow more quickly (+34%) than any other occupation of this select group.  

For more information about green jobs in Oregon, visit the Green Info section of our website, QualityInfo.org.  For employment projections on all occupations, see Employment Projections by Industry and Occupation.