Looking for a job? Going green could be your best option. Nearly a quarter of last year's job postings required at least one "green skill," according to the latest data from LinkedIn.
Some jobs require a bachelor's degree, but there are plenty that simply require a high school education. Institutions around the country are recognizing the need as they adopt training programs that not only educate but may help break down barriers.
Scripps News visited a room of people who are potentially the future of what has become one of the fastest-growing job fields: green jobs. And for some of them, this training class couldn't have come at a better time.
Charina Scott is taking advantage of a program called Green Core Training. "I think I already have a job, thanks to the program," Scott said.
Backed by Kansas City, the nonprofit KC Can Compost teaches a five-week class educating students about the environment while offering much-needed job training.
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"It is not specific job training. It's literacy training, literacy around environmental issues and problems and solutions and then the jobs that are attached to those solutions," said Green Core Training instructor Bruce Holloway.
Two green jobs that don't require college degrees, wind turbine technicians and solar installers, have a projected increase of over 50% into 2030, according to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics.
The bureau's data also shows that each of the green occupations has a median annual wage of more than $45,000. That's more than the average American median wage at the time of the study in 2021.
"Municipalities, in particular, are interested in greening their operations. So, there's jobs there. Transportation, building energy, food, health and agriculture, — all of these sectors have jobs attached to them," Holloway said.
A study by the Brookings Institution shows many workers are not aware of the multitude of green jobs. And of those already working, the study shows that millions more workers are needed.
"We've always felt like the green jobs were the future, but the future is now. It's here," Holloway said.
Looking at more than traditional jobs, Courtnie Beasley says green-jobs training offers tools she needs to feed her passion for nonprofits that help keep teens off the streets by showing them careers that are available.
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"There are teenagers that do want jobs, and you can explore the basic needs that helps everybody," Beasley said.
"It's good to see people, you know, go toward a green job or talk about becoming more involved in their neighborhood, or just getting more interested in things that they may not have had much awareness about," Holloway said.
