Labor Department Recruiting Women for Green Jobs

11.17.2009 by Elizabeth Ziegler

(KCPW News) University of Utah junior Trisha Springer picked an Environmental Studies major specifically to take advantage of the federally stimulated jobs in the growing green industry.

“That’s the way the rest of the world is going,” Springer says. “So I’m getting on board early, I hope.”

Springer was one of 57 women who attended a workshop yesterday on green jobs hosted by the U.S. Department of Labor and Salt Lake Community College. The event featured 18 panelists, talking to women about opportunities in industries like construction, energy, consulting, and architecture.

Salt Lake Community College started the Green Academy in March for students interested in green job training, including courses like Energy Management, green home retrofitting and handling hazardous waste. Jennifer Saunders, division chair for continuing education at the college, says the opportunities for women are plentiful.

“There’s sales, there’s small business, there’s all kinds of entrepreneurial opportunities, marketing, and so just like in every other industry, there’s levels and different types of occupations,” Saunders says. “And we want to make sure that women are thinking about those things, too.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s 10 regional women’s bureaus are hosting similar workshops across the nation to get the word out about the growth in green jobs. The Obama Administration earmarked $787 million in the federal stimulus package for green industries. The labor department is targeting women specifically because their wages continue to lag behind their male coworkers’. Click here for more information.