New Jersey’s Green Workforce

1. New Jersey’s Green Workforce Presented to the NJ Higher Education Partnership for Sustainability August 2, 2011 Aaron Fichtner, Ph.D., Assistant Commissioner Tiffany L. Smith, Research Economist Labor Planning and Analysis New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development

2. Goals • Align workforce and education investments with employers' skill needs • Inform curriculum decisions by providing critical data and using the Talent Networks to create replicable models of employer involvement • Improve career information available to youth and job seekers

3. Context • Green Labor Market Information Improvement Grant • Project assesses employer demand and supply responses (training / education) in green / sustainable programs • Deliverables include inventory of education / training programs, analysis of program completer data, career information, Web Site for dissemination • State Energy Sector Partnership (SESP) Grant • State Employment and Training Commission • Three-year, $6 million grant for training • Implementation overseen by the SESP Council, comprised of industry leaders, organized labor and government leaders • Grant opportunities to businesses, industry associations and trade / labor organizations through a competitive applications process

4. Defining Green • The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) defines green jobs as either: • Jobs in businesses that produce goods or provide services that benefit the environment or conserve natural resources. • Jobs in which workers’ duties involve making their establishment’s production processes more environmentally friendly or use fewer natural resources. • BLS currently has two survey initiatives to separately measure each type of green job; results are expected next year and annually thereafter • Green Good and Services (GGS) and Green Technologies and Practices (GTP) surveys

5. Methodology: Labor Market Data as a Tool to Inform Sector Strategies TalentDevelopmentStrategy Traditional data Employer interactions Real time data OUTCOME DATA / Feedback loop

6. Data Sources: Strengths / Weaknesses

7. Green industries • Components of NJ’s green economy • Green Energy Production / Renewable Energy • Companies producing electricity, heat, or fuel generated from renewable sources ; products in the Green Energy supply chain • 25 percent of employment; 33 percent of wages • Energy Efficiency – Green Building / Construction / Design • Producers of products and services that improve the energy efficiency of buildings and the efficiency of energy storage and distribution • 68 percent of employment; 62 percent of wages • Environmental Remediation / Waste Management • Firms involved with the reduction or elimination of waste materials • Six percent of employment; eight percent of wages • Employment in firms in green industries was seven percent (200,000) of all state employment in 2009

8. Although a small proportion of online postings include green skills, the skills are concentrated in specific occupational groups • Between January 2010 and March 2011 just 1.7 percent of New Jersey postings included green skills content • The occupations with the largest proportion of green skills content were in Architecture and Engineering and Life, Physical and Social Sciences • Large numbers of occupations with green skills were also found in Management, Installation, Maintenance and Repair, and Sales job postings

9. Online Job Postings with Green SkillsJanuary 2010 – March 2011

10. Next Steps • Continued partnership with the State Employment and Training Commission (SETC) / State Energy Sector Partnership (SESP) grant • Final report on analysis of supply and demand in the green sector (late summer) • Talent development strategy • Career awareness materials • Improved job search-resume matching tools at jobs4jersey.com, including green job search capabilities

11. Contact information Aaron Fichtner, Ph.D., Aaron.Fichtner@dol.state.nj.us Tiffany L. Smith, Tiffany.Smith@dol.state.nj.us