The arrival of the green-collar industry has led many to question whether traditional blue-collar jobs will survive. Everything from construction to production is moving towards a green future, creating a multitude of green jobs and worrying many blue-collar workers. A green-collar job is basically a blue-collar job changed to tackle environmental challenges.
What Do Green-Collar Workers Do?
Green-collar workers do everything from designing green products and brewing biofuels to installing solar panels and cleaning up hazardous waste.
While environmentalists have applauded the advent of green-collar work because it contributes to combating climate change, many US workers also view green-collar jobs as replacements for positions lost to overseas manufacturing and outsourcing. For still others such jobs offer routes out of poverty.
Green-collar employees are being offered better pay scales than those of their traditional counterparts because of the increasing demand for green products and a shortage of skilled workers.
Are Green Jobs Good?
To many Americans green jobs are a welcome change as they cannot be easily outsourced. However, not everyone is happy about this development. The trend towards “going green” will probably eliminate many traditional blue-collar jobs and weaken some traditional work sectors.
Observers opine that the diversification will initially generate a lot of jobs in areas considered green or environmentally fashionable. Some of these jobs will be sustained, but most will probably disappear like the dot-com bubble of the last decade.
Do Green Jobs Offer Better Prospects?
Twenty-eight US states have made it mandatory that they obtain 10% to 25% of their energy from renewable sources within a decade or two. As a result, several companies are scurrying to build wind and solar power systems, and some are exploring processes to transform prairie grass into biofuel.
Such developments, mandatory or not, will certainly boost the demand for skilled workers to set up and maintain heating and cooling systems. As concern about the environment gains more momentum, states will not mind making substantial green investments, which will stimulate green jobs and provide a career ladder for many blue-collar workers.
Green-collar jobs, in addition to offering employees the satisfaction that their work is making a difference, provide opportunities to upgrade skills as well as competitive pay.
Will the Green Economy Last?
The number of green-collar jobs will probably increase in the coming decades as the shift towards conservation and renewable energy is most likely here to stay.
However, skeptics see the prospect of a thriving green-collar job sector as a temporary tool in the hands of politicians and are not confident about the green movement’s ability to solve the nation’s job problem. Naysayers have suggested that green-collar jobs ultimately will not pay as much as the traditional manufacturing jobs they are replacing. Moreover, it is difficult to determine the number of green jobs available in the country.
Nevertheless, supporters of the green movement are quite optimistic about the jobs it will generate. According to a recent survey, the nation will gain 3 to 5 million green jobs over the next 10 years.
Conclusion
As the green-collar sector continues to grow, blue-collar workers would be well advised to consider how they can adapt to the subsequent changes in the US economy.
