Green Jobs Shortage

British Columbia could be facing a growing shortage of skilled and experienced “green” workers that could limit economic productivity and result in missed business opportunities over the next decade. This is the main conclusion of a research report released today by the GLOBE Foundation of Canada, based on a survey of CEOs and human resource directors of leading green and clean energy companies in BC. Over the last year, the GLOBE Foundation has carried out an in-depth study on BC’s emerging green economy and has developed a framework to measure contributions to the province’s “green” gross domestic product (GDP) and employment in all regions of the province.

The GLOBE Foundation found that the green sectors of BC’s economy contributed $15.3 billion to the province’s GDP in 2008 - equal to 10.2 per cent of the province’s total GDP for that year. The number of direct jobs in BC’s green economy was estimated at more than 117,000 in 2008 - equivalent to 5.1 per cent of provincial employment. BC is actively pursuing a greener, lower-carbon economy based on significant new investments in renewable energy, a mandated “carbon neutral” public sector, a progressive tax on carbon, and communities large and small looking to become more sustainable through initiatives to increase food security and energy efficiency .

This extensive research endeavour, which involved an analysis of more than 350 secondary sources on current low-carbon economies, led to the release of a widely-received report in February 2010 entitled “ British Columbia’s Green Economy: Building a Strong Low-Carbon Future ” Since the first report was released, the Foundation has carried out further research looking at opportunities and challenges facing BC’s green work force, including in-depth interviews with more than 70 CEOs and directors of leading green and clean energy companies, as well as the leaders of major industry associations, government representatives, and presidents, deans, and instructors from many of BC’s post-secondary and trades training institutions. A series of focus groups were also held throughout the province with community and business leaders, academic experts, First Nations representatives, and municipal officials, to examine regional issues affecting BC’s transition to a greener economy. As well, an extensive online survey was initiated in March 2010 that reached out to 650 green businesses to identify some of the challenges they are experiencing at present in securing qualified workers.

The 104 green companies who completed the comprehensive survey questionnaire represented the full spectrum of “green” sectors in the province. The responding companies were fairly well established for the most part and were relatively similar to BC’s small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) profile. Approximately two-thirds (68 per cent) of the companies have had operations in the province for more than 5 years and three-quarters (75 per cent) of companies employ fewer than 25 full-time staff.

The survey results revealed that while many business owners and human resource specialists in BC are optimistic about the opportunities associated with a greener economy - especially in the areas of renewable energy and clean technology - many reported they were already having difficulties finding the experienced and skilled workers they need. This was especially true with respect to engineers, technicians / technologists, business development professionals, and environmental consultants. And despite the recent recession, 33 per cent of respondents had job vacancies at the time of the survey - a sign that green jobs may be particularly difficult to staff.

The BC’s Climate Action Plan, its Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, and its new Clean Energy Act with a proposed feed-in-tariff (FIT) program are all helping to drive behavioural changes and spark investment in clean technologies and BC green businesses with the hopes of creating a skilled, productive, and more sustainable work force in the province . The top staffing challenges identified were the shortages in the availability of qualified, experienced workers (with more than one-third of respondents identifying this issue). To make matters worse, the survey results suggest green employers expect this problem will get worse over the next decade with nearly half of the respondents (47 per cent) predicting continued shortages in the availability of qualified and experienced workers.

For 60 per cent of the green employers surveyed, shortages in staffing results in missed business opportunities for their companies. It also requires staff and owners to work longer hours, curtails expansion plans, and limits production levels. To address this problem, respondents stressed the importance of developing more relevant education and training programs.

Increased partnerships between post-secondary institutions and the business community - including through applied research project collaboration, co-operative education experiences, internships, and apprenticeships - would help match education and training curricula with private sector needs and realities. Others commented on the lack of availability for certain training programs in some regions of the province - especially with respect to renewable energy installer and clean technology-based programs. Feedback on current training programs revealed a need for a combination of skills to be emphasized, such as combining business skills with technical training.

Several respondents indicated the need to integrate management and business skills with traditional trades training to help improve opportunities within their industry sectors. One respondent commented that a “better understanding of the financial requirements needed to bring research projects to a commercial reality” is needed for recent graduates. Another indicated that there should be courses available in construction management so that a person can “move forward from being a tradesperson to learning how to run a company.” Many respondents cited policy related issues as a key factor affecting the transition to a greener economy, including irregular public policies and programs, a lack of incentives, weak regulations and/or a lack of their enforcement, and low public awareness and understanding for the green initiatives already being undertaken within their industries.

Many municipalities are leading the way with the City of Vancouver looking to become the Greenest City in the World by 2020 through 10 specific goals and plans to double its number of green jobs over the next decade . As summed up in one open-ended survey response “government support in the form of capital grants, loan guarantees, and speedy approvals is absolutely required for the clean technology industry to jump that initial capital hurdle.” Next week, the GLOBE Foundation will share the findings from its regional focus group sessions that looked at the opportunities and barriers for the transition to a greener economy in BC. Full findings from the study will be released in a detailed summary report made available by the Foundation later in October.

Source: GLOBE-Net