The Bureau of Labor Statistics has announced a two-pronged study to begin tracking green jobs for the first time beginning this year.

• In one study the BLS will ask companies in certain pre-selected industries how much of their total revenue comes from the production of green products. The percentage of revenue will help BLS determine what percentage of positions are green.
• The other study will focus on whether companies have green business practices. If so, the company will report on how many positions contribute to that business practice.

The two studies will be combined to create an estimate of the number of green jobs in the United States. The data will allow for comparisons of green job numbers by state and region for the first time. This is  good news as eventually trend data will be available to identify areas of growth. We’ll also be able to compare green apples to green apples for the first time.

One thing to keep in mind, is that the definition of green jobs is still fairly amorphous in the field. For instance, each organization and state has their own working definition of what constitutes a green job. It will be interesting to see how closely these data match up with the state’s own studies and how the definition of green jobs evolves to become standardized across the nation.

A couple of other signs that green jobs are becoming “real.”

• The Division of Occupational Outlook is set to publish their first report about green jobs in September 2010 on the wind energy industry.
• O*Net continues their efforts to provide occupational profiles of green positions. You can browse the green occupations across twelve industry sectors. When you land on the page, you’ll see which occupations have a bright outlook (look for the sun icon). In addition you can tell at a glance if that industry required a person in an existing occupation must enhance their skills (60 occupations), whether there’s an increased demand for an existing occupation (64 occupations), or if the occupation is new and emerging (45 occupations with 46 candidate occupations that are being considered).
• In preparation for the BLS study described above, the Bureau of Labor Statistics created a more detailed, objective and measurable definition of green jobs. Take a look at page two of this pdf for their full definition of green jobs.

Earlier this week, I received a question from a colleague. I thought I’d share my answer with you as it might be helpful to you as well.

“Are you seeing any HR jobs in the green economy – contract, direct, part-time, whatever?”

Whether you or one of your clients is looking for a Human Resources position, I would use the following strategies to surface opportunities.

First, pay attention to your local media to identify green companies that are in growth mode.

Second, keep your ears and eyes open for word of early stage companies that have received funding of some sort. Whether it’s stimulus funds, VC funding,  or private funding, companies in the news for funding are worth tracking. Granted, not all funding is going to go straight to hiring new talent. You may need to track these companies for some time, but at a certain point, hiring will have to happen for the company to get to market and fulfill their first rush of orders.

Third, don’t forget that a number green companies within each green industry are well established corporations that are household names. Think Google, IBM, Johnson Controls, Nissan, Intel, GE, etc. Green industry blogs highlight green initiatives and accomplishments every day.  Scanning the blogs that track industries you are interested in will help you build a list of these major players.

Fourth, training large groups of employees in new approaches and technology is a key component of the transition to a greener, more sustainable economy. If an industry is in the process of ramping up for a new policy or technology, the companies within the industry, the training organizations, and the industry associations will need to manage the transfer of knowledge effectively and efficiently.

As with any position in the green economy, you’ll need to begin an active research/networking campaign to understand which green industries and companies are active in your area. Keep in mind that green industries are developing in different regions on varying time lines.  The more you know about your local green economy the better able you will be to pinpoint the companies that are likely to need help managing their human resources issues.

There’s really no way to predict how a specific company will choose the handle these functions. We have seen some full-time HR positions listed on company web sites when in the midst of a growth spurt, but it’s likely small and start up companies are relying on outsourcing or part-time professionals to fulfill this function. Working your networking connections is likely to be your best strategy to find the opportunities you are looking for.

Transforming our electric grid into a smart grid is one of the trends that’s transforming our economy and career opportunities.

What is the smart grid? Our current electric grid is a patchwork of regional grids that transmit electricity from power plants (hydro, coal) to the end users (home, industries, companies).  With a smart grid the delivery of electricity is not just in one direction. Power generated through solar panels and wind turbines at the user’s location will also be added to the grid. In addition, there will be a bi-directional exchange of pricing and availability information that will allow all users to manage their energy usage more specifically. Appliances will be built to take advantage of new levels of information to run when power is least expensive.

The full transition to the smart grid is likely to take a couple of decades and spark industries we can’t even imagine right now.  For the next two years,  the trends defining this sector include:

• Integrating renewable energy into the grid – As you probably know, generating renewable energy is getting a lot of attention. Keep in mind that the renewable energy can be generated through utility-scale systems and in local systems (called distributed power) such as residential solar panels or small scale wind.
• Security – Protecting the security of the smart grid is critical. The physical power plants and distribution systems must be protected as well as the cyber/virtual systems that control and manage the systems.
• Energy storage – Because renewable energy sources are variable, it’s important to have storage systems to collect solar and wind power when available to be used at a later time. Innovation within storage technology is going to be a critical milestone in our transition to the smart grid.
• Home-based energy efficiency and home energy management systems – Giving home owners and building managers the opportunity to track their own energy use will provide new real-time energy consumption information. With this level of information better decisions can be made about energy efficiency and energy usage.
• Utility workforce changes – Workforce forecasts within the utility industry indicate that up to 50% of their workforce is due to retire within the next five years. In addition, the skills needed by utilities as the smart grid unfolds will also shift workforce needs.

If you have clients with an IT, software, telecommunications, security, and electric engineering background, encourage them to build their knowledge about the smart grid sector. This is the focus of the next economic shift for these fields. Jobs aren’t just available within utilities, there are opportunities in a variety of businesses in the industries listed above, governmental organizations, regulatory groups, advocacy groups, and service providers.

In a recent post, US News & World Report asked, “Can green jobs fix the U.S. economy? Are green jobs a panacea or a pipe dream?”

Although the ultimate form of the green economy is far more nuanced and multi-faceted that these questions imply, they shine light on myths that affect how our clients think about the green economy.

I believe green/clean/sustainable careers will have an impact on our economy, but it’s not going to happen overnight. We are in the early stages of a complete shift in our economy…the beginning of a new economic era. It’s so new we don’t have an agreed upon term for it yet. Is it going to be the green economy, low carbon economy, or clean energy economy? It is the Third Industrial Revolution or an Energy/Climate Revolution? Even though a clear label hasn’t come into focus yet, momentum for this new economy is building.

According to Recovery.gov, only 12% of the stimulus money that was distributed in 2009 went to green initiatives…by 2012, 61% of the funds are slotted to go to green related initiatives. People are making judgments about a multi-year program after only the first year. The money that has landed is creating jobs in a number of industries. It’s likely money distributed in 2010, 2011, and 2012 will do the same.

Critics posit that new green jobs will mean that carbon-based jobs will disappear. There is no doubt that over time technologies of today and tomorrow will outpace yesterday’s standards. Historical events from the Industrial Revolution through the technical revolutions of the last few decades demonstrate that new technologies overtake old technologies as time unfolds. It’s the way of innovation. Changes invoked by this economy shift are coming more frequently in a wide array of industries. Furthermore, long-standing industry giants are feeling this transition with the shifts to a greener, more sustainable economy.

This shift from one technology to the next will continue in the decades to come as one green innovation is outpaced by another. The road is likely to be rocky for some time to come. Employees must take responsibility for their own career planning and be ready to shift their path as some industries fade and others thrive. Although this strategy is one career services professionals have been recommending for a decade or more, it’s likely to be an even more important strategy moving forward.

In March US News & World Report will publish a debate between Jerome Ringo, former president of the Apollo Alliance and Kenneth Green of the American Enterprise Institute. Will be interesting to read what they have to say in response to these questions.

My favorite report of the year, State of Green Business 2010, was just released by GreenBiz.com and Greener World Media this month.

Each year I comb through this report to understand how the green economy is doing over all and to spot the green business trends that are likely to lead to new green careers or growth in existing green careers. On occasion I also spot areas of opportunity for enterprising individuals who want to be on the cutting edge of a new field.

This 60+ page report provides a rich, detailed look at how green green businesses are these days.

• A summary of the green business trends over the last year based on the 2400 articles published on their family of five news blogs

• A status report of how green businesses are stacking up on 20 objective measures of green business practices.

In this year’s report there was obviously talk of the economic times (How can you talk about business without noting we’ve been through or are in a rough patch?), but there was a silver lining. The recession itself was causing businesses to rethink their businesses practices to become more cost effective and competitive. In doing so, more and more business leaders have been choosing to take greener actions and make more sustainable decisions to survive.

In fact, the report notes that in more and more companies, sustainability is becoming a guiding principle throughout all areas of a company’s infrastructure, including non-technical business functions such as accounting, operations, marketing, and management. This trend bodes well for non-technical employees who want to move into the green economy.  A section entitled, Is the Green Economy Too Big to Fail?, reports several positive indicators for the green economy, including an increase in current job openings for jobs in the environmental and sustainable realm.

In their summary of the top ten green business trends, they conclude by saying, “Recession notwithstanding, next-gen green products, and the infrastructure needed to support them, continue to emerge relatively unabated, expanding opportunities for companies seeking to be part of the growing green economy.”