Skills, Knowledge Requirements, and Workforce Gaps for Green Vacancies

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Skills and Knowledge
Green positions were most likely to require technical skills (66 percent of green jobs) followed by math skills (65 percent). Supervising (20 percent) and project management (21 percent) skills were also important.

Technical skills cover a wide spectrum of activities, including operating, monitoring, repairing, troubleshooting, quality control analysis and product design. Technology design (cited as important for 13 percent of green vacancies) is essential for developing new green products and for finding gaps in performance between green and non-green products.

Although not all green job vacancies required advanced math, most required at least basic quantitative skills to perform analytical or operational tasks, including recording expenditures, preparing drawings and specifications, operating programmable logic control tools, and collecting and analyzing data. Advanced math skills were needed for statistical analysis or scientific and engineering calculations.

Soft skills that green employers are looking for include the following:

Learning: Since green technologies evolve rapidly, employers are seeking motivated, life-long learners capable of continuously acquiring and applying new knowledge.
Communication: Most frequently cited skills are the ability to collaborate effectively with others, the ability to communicate within multidisciplinary and multi-functional teams, and the ability to develop strong relationships with both internal and external customers.
Problem Solving: Examples of green activities requiring high degrees of problem solving are lean process improvements, remediation work, and all R&D activities.
Persuasion: The ability to influence change and handle conflict effectively as well as coordination and negotiating skills.

While skills are not inherently green, some types of knowledge are, for example, a chemist versus a green chemist. About 44 percent of all estimated green vacancies required mechanical knowledge and/or skills, followed by science knowledge (29 percent), especially important for environmental conservation jobs.

Legal knowledge (27 percent) encompasses knowledge of environmental policies, regulations, and permitting processes.

Sales knowledge in green jobs is often based on technical knowledge of the product and the development of long-term relationships with the customer to identify new market opportunities and customized solutions.

Construction knowledge was most often required for work in energy efficiency, including roofing, building inspection, plumbing, and installation of geothermal heat systems.

Workforce Gaps
Despite the lingering effects of the recession on the job market, more than a quarter of the green vacancies were reported as hard to fill by employers. Nine out of 10 cases of hiring difficulty were caused, entirely or in part, by lack of experience.

The second most frequently reported hiring difficulty was lack of skills, knowledge, or abilities. A shortage of applicants with the required formal degrees, certifications, or licenses accounted for 28 percent of hard-to-fill cases.

Employers reported the most hiring difficulties in the following occupational groups:

Engineering (40 percent hard to fill)
Business and financial operations (40 percent)
Life and physical scientists (33 percent)
Maintenance and repair (33 percent)