Saturday, December 18, 2010

Finding Green Collar Jobs:

First: Grifting monies from the education industry with little upfront investment projects:

The promise of green jobs "for all" has led to nationwide investments in green job training programs, but many of those programs have found themselves disappointed with how few candidates they've been able to place or the quality of the jobs created.

Second: It isn't a need for training more in classroom style settings the need is for investments from those wealthy 'free marketers' for projects, the best training is in the field from experienced long time trades professionals:

Many of the currently unemployed construction workers already possess skills applicable to the green economy and will need only limited additional training when they return to work."

Lessons from the Residential Retrofit Industry


Dec 16, 2010 - Every surfer knows you can't ride a wave until it breaks. But for the residential energy efficiency industry, whose surge in growth has often been compared to a tidal wave, the wave may be more of a slow ripple.

Despite the billions of dollars that have been allocated nationwide to increase demand for residential retrofits, the corresponding surge in job growth just hasn't appeared. The promise of green jobs "for all" has led to nationwide investments in green job training programs, but many of those programs have found themselves disappointed with how few candidates they've been able to place or the quality of the jobs created. Though there is no comprehensive data on green job training program placement rates or retention (something which should be done), training providers across the country lament the low percentage of students who were actually able to find career-track, full-time "green" jobs. Even the best students often find themselves working part-time or pulling a paycheck from heavily government-subsidized jobs tied to federal stimulus spending and its limited timeframe. At Rising Sun Energy Center's Green Energy Training Services (GETS) Program, Elena Foshay explains, "Despite all the outreach we've done to employers, we still have a really hard time placing people in the industry. Of the 137 people we have trained over the past year and a half, 39 are working in Building Performance or related industries." {continued}

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