The labor market continues to react to the struggling economy, never-the-less, a new trend is continuing to emerge known as the “greening” of the world economy. While the term “greening” is becoming increasingly ubiquitous, O’NET, a leading resource for providing occupational information, has sought to identify and reclassify occupations in order to meet this trend and properly classify jobs into suitable categories.

According to O’NET the trend is due in part to new and emerging occupations growing from the nation’s increasing interest in creating a greener world. A greener economy will change work and worker requirements such as tasks, skills, knowledge, and required credentials. Green employment or occupations are those in which a greater need is required due to the energy conscious economy.

There are many sectors which perform work directly related to the greening of the economy. This includes occupations in Agriculture and Forestry, Recycling and Waste, Manufacturing, Transportation and Environmental Protection. As the nation continues to research and develop ways to protect the environment, expectations are for an increase in jobs directly connected to the “greening” of America.

O’Net has created three distinct job classifications impacted by green activities in the workforce.

Green Increased Demand Occupations – O’Net anticipates an increase in demand for these workers; however the required job skills essentially will not change. This includes such occupations as bus drivers, Chemists, Electricians, Fish and Game Wardens.

Enhanced Skills Occupations – O’Net anticipates these careers will have a significant change in the skill sets required. These occupations include Aerospace engineers, Civil Engineers, Construction Managers, Financial Analysts and Marketing Managers.

New and Emerging Occupations – The shift in work for these occupations is significant enough to require new classifications within the workforce system. These “new” classifications will be derived from existing classifications. An example of “new” classifications include; Transportation Engineers, Validation Engineers and Robotics Engineers.

There are many resources and platforms available for information and discussions on the many green initiatives. One such platform is The Green Jobs Community of Practice (CoP), through Workforce One sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor. Within the CoP, workforce professionals, managers and leaders discuss and share practices to create partnerships and leverage Recovery Act investments. They also provide discussion boards, webinars and other online resources.

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