Michigan Releases First-Ever Green Jobs Report
At the Green Today, Jobs Tomorrow conference, the State of Michigan released the “Michigan Green Jobs Report.” The May 2009 Michigan Green Jobs Report is the first effort of its kind for Michigan and makes Michigan the second state (after Washington) to release a scientific survey of green jobs. This report covers private sector jobs in Michigan’s green economy, which are defined as being comprised of five areas:
1. Agriculture and natural resource conservation
2. Clean transportation and fuels
3. Increased energy efficiency
4. Pollution prevention and environmental cleanup
5. Renewable energy production.
Report highlights include:
Michigan boasts 109,067 private sector green jobs: 96,767 direct green jobs (people directly involved in generating a firm’s green-related products or services) and 12,300 green support jobs (anyone from a janitor to an accountant whose job directly serves green work).
Clean transportation and fuels are the largest green economy areas in Michigan, comprising just over 40 percent of green jobs and reflecting Michigan’s automotive heritage. If Michigan succeeds in developing alternative fuel, hybrid and electric vehicles, this sector may grow significantly.
There is huge potential for growth throughout the green economy. Today, green jobs represent just three percent of Michigan’s overall private sector employment of 3.2 million.
Indeed, from 2005 to 2008, a sample of 358 green-related firms added more than 2,500 jobs to Michigan’s economy, an employment expansion rate of 7.7 percent — at a time when overall Michigan private sector employment shrank 5.4 percent.
Among the renewable energy production firms in that sample, the growth rate hit 30 percent. Renewable energy production, which today is the smallest green sector, may be the fastest growing.
The green economy appears to be a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. Among the report’s sample of 358 green-related firms, more than 70 appeared to be newly created since 2005, accounting for nearly 600 jobs already.
Green jobs tend to pay well. Thirteen of the top 15 sectors of green employment have weekly wages above the overall private sector weekly average, several of them far above.
Green jobs encompass a wide range of occupations. Engineering and construction jobs are prominent, but many other jobs of all skill levels are required by the green economy.
Education and training are key for green employers. In multiple focus groups, employers emphasized the need for basics in math and reading, with additional skills to be acquired on the job or in school depending on the green job specifications and requirements.
Local, state, and federal public policy may drive further growth in green jobs. Laws such as Michigan’s new renewable energy standard, the requirement that regulates utilities’ spending a portion of revenue on energy efficiency measures for their customers, and incentives for advanced battery production, in combination with local and federal initiatives, may accelerate the growth of green jobs in Michigan.
To view the entire Green Jobs Report, please visit:
http://www.milmi.org/admin/uploadedPublications/1604_GreenReport_E.pdf
