Top Green Jobs During the Recession

Non-profit leadership positions, project managers and data analysts are some of the most in-demand green jobs, according to new information released this week.

Green Dream Jobs and green workforce development consultant Jim Cassio released data that shows the top green job titles posted by employers and in which cities over the past year–during the recession.

Although a plethora of studies show the potential for green jobs going forward, many note the dearth of data on current green jobs in the U.S. economy. Green Dream Jobs, online since 1996, collects concrete historical and current data on the job titles employers are actually looking to fill.

"The leading job tiles show the breadth of green positions across the economy," says Rona Fried, Ph.D., CEO of SustainableBusiness.com, which runs Green Dream Jobs. "Most people think of energy auditing and renewable energy as green jobs, but leading non-profit organizations are major employers, and people needed to run projects and analyze data are in demand, as well as those in sales and business development. Engineers are also in demand for renewable energy operations and even in this economy, we’re still seeing many job openings in green building."

"The data also point to the variety of skill levels employers seek–from executive skills as Executive Director of green non-profits (NGOs), to mid-level skills associated with analysis, project development and managerial positions, to entry level skills for positions like Administrative Assistant," notes Jim Cassio.

Interestingly, the most frequently keywords used by job seekers to find job openings on Green Dream Jobs match many of the available positions: sustainability; climate change; wind; solar; construction manager; architectural designer; executive director; naturalist.

The top city for green employment over the past year is Washington DC, reflecting the many executive director positions at green NGOs. Other top 10 cities are those with aggressive green business incentives and policies: the San Francisco Bay area, New York, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Portland, Oregon and Burlington, Vermont. The top 20 cities include Houston, Madison, Wisconsin, San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego in California, and Philadelphia.

Although there have been fewer green job openings over the past year, the green jobs data show a wide variety of employment opportunities in many fields and for people of all skill levels. As the economy recovers, Fried and Cassio said they expect a surge in openings in the various renewable energies, as seen in previous years.

Green Dream Jobs will soon launch the Green Jobs Educational Directory to help people locate the hundreds of green job training programs under development across the US.

Top 20 Green Job Titles are as follows:

• Executive Director, Nonprofit
• Project Leader/Manager
• Sustainability Program Director/Manager
• Sales/Business Development Associate or Manager
• Marketing Manager/Coordinator
• Community Crew Leaders/Supervisors, Conservation Associations
• Business/Data Analyst
• Research Analyst/Manager
• Environmental Educator/Naturalist
• Account Executive/Manager, Sales
• Professor (various academic fields)
• Sustainability Analyst/Consultant
• Operations Manager
• Wind Energy Engineer
• Administrative Assistant
  Trainer, Training Specialist or Training Coordinator
  Electrical/Design Engineer
• Green Architect
• Green Building Project Manager
• Solar Process Engineer/Process Integration Engineer

Green Dream Jobs is a leading green jobs service on the Web, hosting green jobs listings across the spectrum of employers including: multinationals hiring sustainability practitioners, green NGOs, government agencies, renewable energy, green building, green mutual funds, green private equity firms, the organic and recycling industries, etc.

Jim Cassio is a career information and workforce development consultant specializing in green workforce issues. He’s been commissioned to conduct hundreds of labor market studies and has published numerous occupational resource books, including "The Green Careers Resource Guide" and the recently released "Green Careers: Choosing Work for a Sustainable Future."