Green Jobs Expected to Increase 26% in 2 Years

By Sonia Isotov

The State of Hawaii’s Department of Labor and Industrial Relations released its first workforce assessment of the “green” industry, entitled Hawaii’s Green Workforce: A Baseline Assessment.

20 tables and 20 figures cover 6 core areas and all 4 counties: generate energy, reduce pollution, energy efficiency, education and support, and natural production.

Findings include:

• Between 2010 and 2012, employer worksites project the number of green jobs to increase by 26 percent to 14,048, accounting for 2.9 percent of total employment.
• Green jobs in the private sector of Hawai‘i are estimated at 11,145, which accounts for 2.4 percent of total private employment
• Current green job vacancies are estimated at 670, which represent 1.5 percent of Hawaii’s total unemployment

The report is a product of a $1.2 million competitive grant Hawai‘i was awarded in December of 2009 under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act.

Policy makers, business leaders and the public will utilize this “green” intelligence to help guide their strategic decision-making in areas such as investment, education and workforce development.

For further information, visit Green Jobs Hawaii website.