Green Workforce Development

Did you know that 9.8 million jobs require green tasks*? The City of Boston is recruiting people to drastically increase the green workforce to reach sustainability goals. Whether you identify as blue-collar or white-collar, you can go green collar!

What is Green Workforce Development?

Massachusetts' Investment in Green Jobs

Massachusetts is investing heavily to expand the Green workforce because of the high demand and need for skilled workers. For example, "Approximately 80 percent of buildings in Boston will need to undergo deep energy retrofits and prepare for the impacts of climate change. To carry out that work, Boston needs to grow the pipeline of Boston’s future green builders and hone the skills of our active labor force." (Boston Climate Action Strategy)

What kind of opportunities does this create? "Between 2010 and 2020, the clean energy industry in Massachusetts added 40,934 jobs, which accounted for 23% of all jobs created in the state during that same time. In 2020, Massachusetts ranked number one in the country for median clean energy wages." (2021 Massachusetts Clean Energy Industry Report)

What are Green Jobs?

Green jobs include any positions involved in: energy efficiency, carbon-reduction, and natural resource conservation or climate hazard mitigation sectors. Use the links on the left of the screen to access tools to learn more about the wide array of green careers.

These industries include but are not limited to: construction trades, weatherization, HVAC, electrical, plumbing, engineering, carpentry, roofing, estimation, and pipefitting, building operations, facilities management, stormwater infrastructure, and horticulture.

Green jobs also include administrative positions in law, policy creation, marketing, research, engineering, and more.

Green Jobs are for everyone! One of the key aspects of growing the Green Workforce is ensuring equity & inclusion for all races and genders. Historically, non-white, non-males were cut out of key industries severely impacting wealth growth. Navigate to the equity & inclusion page of this guide to learn more.

The City of Boston has several initiatives in place to achieve Boston's Climate Action goals. Check out the City's Green Jobs page to learn more.