OLMIS

by Gail Krumenauer, Barbara E Peniston, Erica Thatcher
Published Nov-22-2011

Green Sector Employment Trends High Wages in Green Sectors Longitudinal Trends of Workers in Green Sectors Conclusion

The Oregon Employment Department received a $1.25-million Labor Market Information Improvement Grant in December 2009 aimed at increasing the state's understanding of green jobs. One goal of the grant is to identify Oregon's green sectors and track employment and wages in those sectors over time. This analysis provides a side-by-side comparison of all seven previously studied green sectors:

• Energy Efficiency and Weatherization
  
• Energy Transmission
  
• Environmental Technologies and Services
  
• Green Building and Development
  
• Green Transportation
  
• Green Manufacturing
  
• Renewable Energy Production and Generation

This analysis uses sector definitions from the Oregon Green Jobs Council - the group legislatively responsible for identifying high-demand green industries in Oregon. Detailed descriptions of each sector are available in the full report at QualityInfo.org/Green.

The firms in this and previous analyses were identified by a number of on-line lists and registries. This independent analysis of labor market information, although it discusses employees, is not a study of green jobs, but a study of all employees at the establishments identified. No effort was made to determine or calculate the net environmental impacts of the products produced or services provided. This study of firms is unique, and may not match other Employment Department data or official statewide employment changes over the same period.

The Oregon Employment Department utilizes two different sources to measure the number of employees in green sectors: the quarterly census of covered employment and wages (QCEW); and unemployment insurance wage records. Both sources include only workers covered by unemployment insurance, but the count of workers in wage records is typically larger than the official quarterly employment figure due to workforce turnover. The QCEW data includes only those employees who worked or received pay during the period which includes the 12th of the month. The wage record files include data for all employees who received pay at some time during the quarter.

Covered employment for the seven green sectors in Oregon totaled 45,311 in the fourth quarter of 2005. That figure rose to 46,172 by the fourth quarter of 2010, an increase of nearly 2 percent over the period. In the fourth quarter of 2010, green sector employment represented roughly 4 percent of all employment in Oregon. Most of the state's green sectors fared better between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010 than Oregon industries in general (Table 1). Oregon's entire economy lost 75,759 jobs (-5%) during the same five-year span.

The green manufacturing sector had the largest employment increase (+831 jobs or 63%) between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010. The environmental technologies and services sector experienced the second-largest gain (+648 jobs or 17%) over the period. Smaller gains occurred in energy transmission (+225), renewable energy (+208), and green transportation (+179); employment growth totaled 2 percent for each of these three sectors.

The energy efficiency sector experienced the largest nominal job loss (-574 jobs or 4%) between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010. However, the largest share of employment was lost in the green building and development sector (-278 jobs or -12%). Declines in these two sectors were likely tied to the commercial and residential construction industries, which took a particularly hard hit during the Great Recession that began in late 2007.

Unemployment insurance wage records serve as a second data source for analyzing changes between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010. In the most recent year, five of the seven green sectors in Oregon had a decline in wage records, while wage records in all sectors statewide increased (+0.3%) over the year (Graph 1). This could reflect a decline in sector employment, a drop in job turnover, or a combination of both. The green building and development sector had the largest decline (-4%) in wage records. Only two green sectors - green manufacturing (+16%) and environmental technologies and services (+4%) - had greater wage record increases than the total for all sectors statewide.

Wages paid at firms in green sectors during the fourth quarter of 2010 ranged from $34.4 million in the green manufacturing sector up to $195.4 million in the energy transmission sector. Each of the seven green sectors studied pay relatively high wages. In the fourth quarter of 2010, the median hourly wage for firms of all ownerships in all sectors across Oregon was $16.96. Each green sector posted a higher median wage during the same quarter. The hourly median wage in Oregon's green sectors ranged from a low of $20.72 in green manufacturing to a high of $39.16 in energy transmission.

More broadly, the green sectors have a larger share of jobs paying at least $20.00 per hour than Oregon's economy overall. Forty-one percent of all workers at firms in Oregon had this level of hourly earnings during the fourth quarter of 2010 (Graph 2). In the energy transmission sector, nine out of 10 workers earned at least $20.00 per hour. The renewable energy sector had the second-largest portion of workers earning at least $20.00 hourly (82%), followed closely by the green building and development sector (81%). The green manufacturing sector showed the lowest share of workers with earnings at or above $20.00 during this period, but still had a majority (51%) of workers with earnings at that rate.

Between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010, the median wage for all workers rose in four green sectors: green building and development (7.9%); environmental technologies and services (7.2%); green transportation (3.5%); and energy efficiency and weatherization (2.5%). Three sectors saw declines in the median wage for all workers over the period. Renewable energy experienced the largest decline (-3.9%), while smaller losses occurred in energy transmission (-1.1%) and green manufacturing (-0.8%).

In five of Oregon's green sectors, the majority of individuals working in the fourth quarter of 2010 also worked in the same sector during the fourth quarter of 2005. Roughly two-thirds of energy transmission (67%) and renewable energy (65%) workers in the fourth quarter of 2010 were in the same sector during both points in the five-year span. Over one-half of all workers in the green transportation (62%), green building and development (59%), and energy efficiency and weatherization (55%) sectors worked in the same sector. Green manufacturing (34%) and environmental technologies and services (46%) showed the lowest portions of fourth quarter 2010 workers in the same sector as five years earlier.

Those workers in the same green sector during the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010 experienced a notable median wage increase over the period. The largest gains occurred in renewable energy (33%) and energy transmission (32%), followed by green manufacturing and green transportation (24% each), environmental technologies and services (22%), green building and development (20%), and energy efficiency and weatherization (18%). The median wage for these workers in the fourth quarter of 2010 also stood higher than the median for all workers in the same sector during the quarter (Graph 3). While not all workers who were present at both points in time may have remained in their sectors over the entire period, those who did would have a greater chance of receiving wage increases, and thus higher pay than newer workers in the sector. The median hourly wage for the sector workers present at both periods in time showed the greatest difference from the all-worker median in green building and development (+$6.18) and green manufacturing (+$5.26). The smallest differences occurred in renewable energy (+$2.65) and green transportation (+$2.71).

Between the fourth quarters of 2005 and 2010, five of the seven green sectors studied experienced covered employment gains. The two green sectors with employment losses - and statewide declines - were influenced in part by a link to construction, an industry that experienced dramatic job declines over the period. For example, 53 percent of all employment in the energy efficiency and weatherization sector during the fourth quarter of 2010 was in the specialty trade contractors industry.

Workers in green sectors earned higher median wages than workers in the overall economy during the fourth quarter of 2010. Moreover, the share of workers in each green sector with an hourly wage of $20.00 or more exceeded the rate in all sectors statewide by at least 10 percentage points, and by as much as 49 percentage points. This may be due in part to the occupational mix in Oregon's green sectors. Green sectors such as environmental technologies and services or green building and development have a notable share of employment in relatively high-paying professional occupations. The energy transmission and renewable energy sectors consist of both professional and high-skill occupations. By comparison, Oregon's overall economy has a larger share of service-related jobs, which pay relatively lower wages.

Among the green sectors, the green manufacturing and environmental technology and services sector showed the greatest employment gains, in terms of both covered employment and wage records. Two other green sectors stand out in terms of wages and hours. The energy transmission sector paid the highest median wage of the group in the fourth quarter of 2010, and had the largest share of workers earning at or above $20.00 per hour. The energy transmission sector also posted the largest share of workers in the fourth quarter of 2010 that had also worked in the sector during the fourth quarter of 2005. The renewable energy sector stood second among all the green sectors in these three areas. However, these two sectors showed weak performance for the change in median hourly wages between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010.

Within the green sectors, workers who were present in their respective sectors during both the fourth quarter of 2005 and the fourth quarter of 2010 saw some earnings benefits compared to all workers in their sectors. The workers present in their respective sectors at both points in time experienced significant median wage gains - between 18 percent and 33 percent - over the five-year period. However, the workers present at both points in time experienced lesser median wage gains than all workers between the fourth quarters of 2009 and 2010 in three sectors: green building and development; environmental technologies and services; and green transportation.

Additional information is available in the full report, available at QualityInfo.org/Green.