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How Green Jobs Can Jumpstart the American Economy

08/22/12 Pratt Industries

Green Jobs | Green Recruiting | Pratt Industries Hires GreenAs with all companies, Pratt Industries is very supportive of young professionals, our future leaders.  When it comes to recruitment of young talent, we’ve found the attraction and interest in working for a “GREEN” company leads them to our front door if even, at times, they aren’t exactly sure of our specific focus or business.

Green jobs are integral to any effort to jumpstart our economy and reduce as rapidly as possible our double digit unemployment rate. The rapid growth of green jobs will boost demand in our economy by reducing unemployment, make America more competitive in the global economy, and protect our public health—all of which will result in greater economic productivity and long-term economic prosperity. Here are a few top reasons why this is the case today and will continue to be  into the future:

  • There are already 2.7 million jobs across the clean economy. Clean energy is already proving to be larger job creation engine than the heavily subsidized fossil-fuels sector, putting Americans back to work in a lackluster economy.
  • Across a range of clean energy projects, including renewable energy, transit and energy efficiency,  16.7 green jobs are created for every million dollars spent. That is over three times the 5.3 jobs per million dollars that are created from the same spending on fossil-fuel industries.  Pratt industries has created over 4000 Green Collar jobs.
  • Median wages are 13 percent higher in green energy careers than the economy average. Median salaries for green jobs are $46,343, or about $7,727 more than the median wages across the broader economy. As an added benefit, nearly half of these jobs employ workers with a less than a four-year college degree, which accounts for a full 70 percent of our workforce.
  • Green jobs are made in America, spurring innovation with more U.S. content than other industries. Most of the products used in energy efficiency retrofits are more than 90 percent made in America. Sheet metal for ductwork is over 99 percent domestically sourced, as are vinyl windows (98 percent) and rigid foam insulation (more than 95 percent). Even major mechanical equipment such as furnaces (94 percent) and air conditioning and heat pumps (82 percent) are predominantly American made.
  • An abundance of jobs in the green sector are manufacturing jobs with an upward career track. Forty-one percent of the nation’s green jobs offer medium to long-term career building and training opportunities, and 26 percent of green jobs are in the manufacturing sector, compared to 9 percent in the traditional economy.

The bottom line: Green jobs being created through smart investments in our energy infrastructure and with a focus on sustainability – the planet, people, and profit – are expanding employment opportunities.

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