The Real Payback on Green Job Training Programs
source: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/real-payback-green-job-training-programs/
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Analysts with no field experience can paint a very bleak picture of the green job market and related training programs. In reality, hard numbers on employment post training are hard to come by. A handful of eager media representatives characterized green training programs as ineffective, drains on the economy, and in the worst reports as adding more to the problem than the solution. The benefits of these programs for individuals, communities, and the potential growth of the US’s renewables market is rarely quantified in numbers. The reality experienced by actual trainees is quite different.
Green job training programs typically focus on energy efficiency and renewables education for low-income and/or blue collar communities. The objective is simple: to educate the working class of America for jobs in one of the most stable sectors in the US market. Since the majority of work previously done by the working class has been exported to countries with cheap labor, the United States has struggled to create industries to employ its population without college-level degrees. This sector of the population typically works hourly jobs without benefits, pensions, or significant opportunities for advancement. Green job training programs were originally designed to provide these individuals with relevant training in a growing field.
Admittedly, the field has not grown fast enough to provide work for all of the newly trained individuals, yet this trend is similar to all sectors of the economy including finance and technology. With renewables making up 7% of the nation’s energy mix, the opportunities in the field are limited. Yet the growth of small to medium businesses that are providing home energy audits, energy efficiency programs, and other services that address the energy sector are seeing significant growth. Traditionally, the United States invests in various job training programs dependent on the potential of future markets. Renewables has garnered international respect, and in many cases necessity, as a market that will grow and continue to evolve into the foreseeable future.
Post Continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/real-payback-green-job-training-programs/
Green job training programs typically focus on energy efficiency and renewables education for low-income and/or blue collar communities. The objective is simple: to educate the working class of America for jobs in one of the most stable sectors in the US market. Since the majority of work previously done by the working class has been exported to countries with cheap labor, the United States has struggled to create industries to employ its population without college-level degrees. This sector of the population typically works hourly jobs without benefits, pensions, or significant opportunities for advancement. Green job training programs were originally designed to provide these individuals with relevant training in a growing field.
Admittedly, the field has not grown fast enough to provide work for all of the newly trained individuals, yet this trend is similar to all sectors of the economy including finance and technology. With renewables making up 7% of the nation’s energy mix, the opportunities in the field are limited. Yet the growth of small to medium businesses that are providing home energy audits, energy efficiency programs, and other services that address the energy sector are seeing significant growth. Traditionally, the United States invests in various job training programs dependent on the potential of future markets. Renewables has garnered international respect, and in many cases necessity, as a market that will grow and continue to evolve into the foreseeable future.
Post Continues: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/05/real-payback-green-job-training-programs/
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