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40% of HR Professionals Report Their Company Is Prepping for Green Job Creation

July 20, 2010 — Whether it's through on-the-job training or paying for employees to take skills courses or get certified, more employers are focusing on creating green jobs, according to a poll from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).

The poll, "Green Jobs — Are They Here Yet?" shows that while 40% of HR professionals report that their company is preparing for green-job creation, another 5% plan to do so. 67% of employers are or will provide on-the-job training while 31% are paying for employees to take skills courses and 28% are paying for employees to obtain related certificates or licenses.

Among the 40% of organizations planning for green jobs, 65% have stepped up efforts in the past 12 months and 34% have held steady their efforts. Compared to two years ago, 79% have boosted their focus on green-job creation.

When asked what has taken place in the past 12 months to meet the demands for "greener" ways of working, 81% of HR professionals polled said new duties have been added to existing positions and 23% reported the creation of completely new green jobs or the addition of green duties within newly created jobs.

While the number of organizations able to create completely new green jobs is relatively low, HR professionals said adding green duties to existing job categories is practical and achievable:

• 80% are in office and administrative support occupations
• 79% are in transportation and material moving occupations
• 76% are in service occupations
• 74% are in construction trades and related workers
• 74% are in installation, maintenance and repair occupations
• 72% are in management, business and financial occupations
• 72% are in production occupations
• 68% are in sales and related occupations
• 68% are in professional and related occupations
• 67% are in farming, fishing and forestry occupations.

Among organizations able to create completely new green positions (25% to 100% of the job has green duties):

• 14% of HR professionals said in sales and related occupations
• 13% of HR professionals said in management, business and financial occupations
• 13% of HR professionals said in professional and related occupations
• 11% of HR professionals said in farming, fishing and forestry occupations
• 10% of HR professionals said in production occupations.

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