Getting a post secondary education is becoming an advantageous option for job seekers, especially if they've been laid off. These opportunities are said to be preparing many for the opportunity of working on some of the ‘green’ jobs that are up and coming within the industry. More specifically, the global environmental goods and services sector is said to double by the year 2020 and will become a $2.7 billion market by that time. The U.S. Department of Labor also has estimated that within the next ten years, the construction industry is going to have to recruit around 250,000 workers every year in order to keep up with demand. These are all workers that will need to be trained in order to work properly. Although the recession has been difficult, industry people within the renewable energy and green building sectors believe that things are going to improve because they have a large amount of demand associated with their services. Some employers are noting, however, there are skills gaps present within the workforce. This is becoming a growing concern. A survey conducted several years ago seemed to indicate that there was already a difficulty in finding employees experienced enough to work within the positions that were available. Energy’s sector is trying to focus on getting more young people into working in the industry. This would allow for more people who would be willing to be retrained in order to understand the new processes and various responsibilities that need to be accomplished in order for the jobs to be done correctly. It would provide more stimulation to the economy because the energy sector would be thriving and would be producing a higher level of demand on a regular basis. It has been said that job seekers who have technical experience or college experience are going to have the best chance at attaining these type of jobs. Another point that has been noted is that within the next five years, more than 40 percent of the energy sector’s employees are going to be eligible to receive retirement. More than half of the country’s workforce for this utility will be near the retirement age by 2016. This is another one of the key reasons why there is more of a focus of getting young people interested in the industry and active enough to keep it going on within the upcoming years. There are many other opportunities, such as data analysts and computer systems analysts, that are also expected to be in demand within the future. However, these are also positions that cannot be taken yet unless the individuals in question - job seekers - have had a post secondary education and have enough experience from college or a technical school to ensure that they know how to handle the procedures correctly. There are several issues that pertain to retraining the workforce. There are more positive aspects to these programs than negative, however. For this reason, many businesses are now taking on the task of retraining rather than rehiring or bringing individuals into a workforce they are not prepared for. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
