Green Jobs in Oregon
Senate Committee on Commerce
and Workforce Development
September 21, 2010
Oregon’s Definition of a Green Job
• A green job provides a service or produces a product
that:
1. Increases energy efficiency
2. Produces renewable energy
3. Prevents, reduces, or mitigates environmental
degradation
4. Cleans up and restores the natural environment
5. Provides education, consultation, policy
promotion, accreditation, trading and offsets or
similar supporting services (for any of the above)
A Survey of Oregon Employers - 2008
• 51,400 green jobs
• Three percent of Oregon’s non-federal employment
• Every major industry sector
• More than 220 occupations
• Employers expected to have 58,800 green jobs in
2010, but no follow-up survey has been completed
Many green jobs are in “blue collar” occupations
Occupational Group
Construction and Extraction
Production
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry
Transportation and Material Moving
Architecture and Engineering
Life, Physical, and Social Science
Building and Grounds Cleaning and
Maintenance
Sales and Related
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair
Management
Office and Administrative Support
Protective Service
Education, Training, and Library
Business and Financial Operations
Food Preparation and Serving Related
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and
Media
Other
Total
Green
Jobs
10,381
6,512
5,838
5,255
4,360
4,135
Portion of All
Green Jobs
20%
13%
11%
10%
8%
8%
2,877
6%
2,437
2,233
1,639
1,570
1,032
790
683
513
5%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
1%
1%
480
1%
667
51,402
1%
100%
Few green jobs pay very low wages
Percent of Green Jobs and All Jobs by Wage Group
All Jobs
Green Jobs
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
Under
$10.00
$10.00 $14.99
$15.00 $19.99
$20.00 $29.99
Average Hourly Wage
Source: Oregon Employment Department
$30.00 $49.00
$50.00 or
more
Two-thirds of green jobs require no
education beyond high school
Green Jobs by Minimum Education Level Oregon, 2008
Other
4%
No Requirement
32%
Bachelor's or
Graduate
18%
Associate Degree
7%
Some College
7%
Where the Minimum Education Level was specified
High School
Graduate
32%
Analyses of Green Sectors
• An analysis of all jobs in a group of companies
performing similar activities
• Not an analysis of green jobs
• Sectors identified by the Oregon Green Jobs Council
Green Sectors to be Studied


•
•
•
•
•
•
Renewable energy production & generation
Green manufacturing
Energy efficiency and weatherization
Energy transmission and storage
Sustainable transportation
Sustainable agriculture and forestry
Green building and development
Environmental technologies and services
Renewable Energy Production & Generation
• 13 firms that produce renewable energy (electricity)
for the “grid”
• Total employment 2009Q3: 11,040
• Private jobs down 1,241 from 2004Q3 to 2009Q3 (-12%)
• -4% for all firms in the same industries
• -2% for all private firms
• Trends dominated by wood & paper product manufacturing
• 2009Q3 median wage was $30.01
• $26.14 for all firms in the same industries
• $15.25 for all private firms
• $171 million in total wages
Green Manufacturing
• 40+ firms that manufacture a “green product”
• Total employment 2009Q4: 1,921
• Jobs up 685 from 2004Q4 to 2009Q4 (55%)
• -8% for all firms in the same industries
• -3% for all private firms
• Jobs concentrated in larger firms (50+ employees)
• 2009Q4 median wage was $20.87
• $22.72 for all firms in the same industries
• $15.70 for all private firms
• $32 million in total wages
Recent Green Job Hiring Trends
On-line Job Ads in August
• 54,000 active on-line ads for all jobs
• 1,000 for green jobs
• All job ads concentrated in health care and sales
• Green job ads concentrated in engineering and
science
• Not much difference in geographical distribution
• No correlation between green job ad growth and all
job ad growth
• SolarWorld, Intel and GE advertised green jobs
• Three largest healthcare providers advertised more
ads than all green jobs combined
Three Key Points About Green Jobs
• Green jobs do exist – they have existed for some
time and they are not all “new” jobs
• Green jobs are widely dispersed – most are not found
in wind and solar
• Green jobs account for a very small portion of the
workforce – and recent job advertisement trends
don’t indicate this will change soon
Hiring Trends in Oregon
Last time I was with you, you asked how many jobs we’d have to
create to get the unemployment rate down. As you probably
know, the unemployment rate hasn’t budged.
Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rates, 1998 to Present
13
Oregon
Percent of Labor Force
11
9
7
5
United States
3
August’s rate =
10.6% …
statistically,
unchanged for the
last several
months.
5,000
4,000
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
-1,000
-2,000
-3,000
-4,000
-5,000
-6,000
-7,000
-8,000
-9,000
-10,000
-11,000
-12,000
-13,000
-14,000
-15,000
-16,000
Dec-10
Nov-10
Oct-10
Sep-10
Aug-10
Jul-10
Jun-10
May-10
Apr-10
Mar-10
Feb-10
Jan-10
Dec-09
Nov-09
Oct-09
Sep-09
Aug-09
Jul-09
Jun-09
May-09
Apr-09
Mar-09
Feb-09
Oregon Nonfarm Payroll Employment
(Seasonally Adjusted Over-the-month Change)
Excluding Census Intermittent Workers
Jan-09
The main reason
is that we’re
simply not
seeing overall
job growth. If we
take out the
impact of
Census jobs, we
see that April
and June were
extremely
positive, while
most other
months are
showing little or
no job change.
We’re looking at two things here: how far did each industry fall
… and how much have things turned around?
Almost all the major components of the private sector
are still down at least 10% ... and few are showing
significant or consistent upturns, yet.
Indexed to February 2008 = 100
110
Health Services
100
Leisure / Hosp.
Retail Trade
90
Financial Svcs.
Professional Svcs.
80
Manufacturing
70
Construction
60
This is actually fairly consistent with the most recent state forecast.
OEA forecasts a -0.7% annualized change in the 3rd quarter. Actual
employment for July and August is on course for a -0.2% or -0.3%
change in the third quarter.
Moving Beyond Recession … Oregon Total Employment
2,000
We are here
1,900
Employment (Thousands)
1,800
1,700
4th Quarter
2014
1,600
4th Quarter
2009
1,500
1,400
1,300
1,200
Source: Office of Economic Analysis,
Department of Administrative Services
September 2010
1,100
1,000
1990:1
1992:1
1994:1
1996:1
1998:1
2000:1
2002:1
2004:1
2006:1
2008:1 2010:1
2012:1
2014:1
2015:4
On the bright side, the number of on-line job postings
has shown some growth from last summer’s lows.
The Conference Board's Help-Wanted Online Data Series
(Seasonally Adjusted)
Help Wanted Online Ads (in thousands)
Oregon - Total Ads
Oregon - New Ads
70.0
60.0
50.0
40.0
30.0
20.0
10.0
0.0
January 2008 - August 2010
Source: The Conference Board
So let’s take a look at a few recent announcements, as
shared in our weekly news summary, Around the
State.
 Info gathered by Research staff spread across
Oregon.
 Summary distributed every Thursday afternoon.


Past four weeks:
 95 positive announcements (8 for 50+ employees)
 12 negative announcements (3 for 50+)
Year ago four weeks:
 76 positive announcements (6 for 60+ employees)
 27 negative announcements (2 for 50+ employees)
Construction
• WC Construction of Elgin won the $8 million contract to
replace the Pendleton Round-Up’s west grandstand
section. Counting subcontractors, the project will employ
more than 100 workers and should be completed in time for
the Round-Up’s 100-year celebration in September. The
Observer, 2-3-10
• Ruby Pipeline construction is set to begin in Lakeview; the
project is expected to bring 600 workers to the area. Lake
County Examiner, 6-23-10
Manufacturing
• AC Solar Technology in Bend will begin production of its
Blue Leaf 210W AC Module. It expects to employ up to 150
workers. Bend Bulletin, 2-9-10
• The Greenbrier Cos. will add 260 jobs to its Gunderson
manufacturing plant in Portland after the company landed
a $130 million railcar contract. The positions could be filled
by calling back previously furloughed workers or by new
hires. Portland Business Journal, 8-25-10
Wood Product Manufacturing
• Murphy Co. will reopen the former Panel Products mill in
Rogue River. It will produce softwood plywood products
and employ about 150 people. Grants Pass Daily Courier,
2-10-10
• Warm Springs Forest Products Industry has contracted
with Boring-based Vanport International to make products
for the Asian market. The contract saved 115 jobs in
Jefferson County. Madras Pioneer, 2-24-10
• The Swanson Group will close its Glendale sawmill and
scale back operations at its stud mill in Roseburg. About
90 employees will be affected. Register-Guard, 8-20-10
Green Manufacturing & Technology
• Swiss battery maker ReVolt Technology received a $5
million U.S. government grant that will help the company
launch a Portland manufacturing and research center. It will
hire about 250 people. The Oregonian, 4-29-10
• Solar World plans to hire 350 more workers at its Hillsboro
factories by September 30. The Oregonian, 5-6-10
• Solexant Corp. will build a solar module manufacturing
plant in Gresham. Initial plans call for a facility with 100,000
square feet of space and 100 employees, increasing to 170
workers at full production. The Oregonian, 7-19-10
Retail Trade
• Movie Gallery Inc. will close its remaining stores. It will lay
off about half of the employees who work at its Wilsonville
corporate offices, which employed 238 people as of
February 2009. The remaining workers will be let go
incrementally to align with the final closure of the corporate
office in October. Portland Business Journal, 5-3-10
• Lowe’s home improvement plans to build a store in
Beaverton. It is expected to create more than 100 jobs.
The Oregonian, 6-21-10
• Netflix, Inc. in Hillsboro plans to hire about 100
employees within the next six months. Hillsboro Business
Advocate, 8-1-10
Transportation & Information
• Regional airline Horizon Air will lay off 120 employees in
Portland and Seattle. Portland Business Journal, 6-21-10
• A FedEx Ground facility will open in Troutdale next month.
The $100-million, 514,000-square-foot hub is seven times
larger than the current Swan Island location. The company
plans to hire 243 part-time handlers. KGW.com, 7-12-10
• IBM anticipates hiring 600 new employees in Oregon as it
introduces new mortgage software tied to its recent
acquisition of Beaverton-based Wilshire Credit Corp. About
90 of the new jobs are expected to be at Wilshire’s office in
Salem, with the remainder in Beaverton. The Oregonian,
6-21-10
Professional and Business Services
• Customer service company Stream Global Services Inc.
in Beaverton will hire nearly 500 people. It provides
outsourced customer support – including sales, customer
care, and technical support – for a variety of companies.
Portland Business Journal, 4-22-10
• Sunwest Management Inc., which once ran the nation’s
fourth-largest network of assisted living centers, will lay off
150 workers at its Salem headquarters. Portland Business
Journal, 5-19-10
Professional and Business Services
• Satellite navigation company Garmin plans to create a
technical support center in Salem that will eventually
employ 200 people. Statesman Journal, 8-23-10
• Freight transport firm Con-Way is laying off 200 employees
in Northwest Portland as part of a plan to outsource
administrative and information technology services.
KPTV.com, 9-13-10
• We continue monitoring job conditions across the
state.
• We report the job trends every month, in our
Employment Situation news release.
• (Next scheduled: October 19, 2010)
• We list all possible job openings on our
www.QualityInfo.org web site and other Employment
Department staff help Oregonians find work through
our iMatchSkills web site / system.
Charlie Johnson
Oregon Employment Department
Charlie.B.Johnson@state.or.us
(503) 947-3098
Graham Slater
Oregon Employment Department
Graham.J.Slater@state.or.us
(503) 947-1212
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