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Cleary Discusses Green Job Opportunities for Women at New Jersey Council on Gender Parity Conference

At the "Green Now! Women Leading the Way in Science and Technology" summit, Jennifer Cleary underlined the importance of fostering women’s skills in math, science, and technology in preparation for the emerging green economy. This was the third annual New Jersey Council on Gender Parity's Women in the Science and Technology Workforce Summit and was held at the Mercer County Community College Conference Center on June 5, 2009. Cleary’s presentation also provided a broad perspective on how to define green jobs at a time when no standard definition of these jobs exists. Cleary pointed out that the largest growth in the near to mid-term is likely to occur in the energy efficiency and renewable energy sectors that are being supported through state and federal policy. 

Green Jobs Webinar

The Heldrich Center recently hosted a webinar entitled, "Going Green: What the Workforce System Can Do to Leverage Opportunities for Job Seekers in the Emerging Clean Energy Economy" to provide workforce professionals and others interested in developing effective green jobs education and training programs the information they need to get started. Click here to view and listen to the webinar broadcast.

Heidkamp Presents at Senate Briefing on Older Workers

Maria Heidkamp, Heldrich Center Senior Project Manager, presented at the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) Senate Briefing held in the Russell Senate Office Building on May 14th. Recent research is finding that this current recession has been especially difficult for dislocated older workers, as they face significant hurdles in terms of reemployment. Maria’s presentation can be found here. For other research on older workers, read the issue briefs “Older and Out of Work: Trends in Older Worker Displacement,” and “Older and Out of Work: Employer, Government, and Nonprofit Assistance.”

Job Posting for Research Assistant

The Heldrich Center is seeking a full-time summer research assistant to join our team and actively participate in our workforce development studies. For more information, read the official posting.

News & Updates
New Work Trends Survey, “Healthy at Work?” Reveals the Importance of Employer-Based Wellness Programs for Workers
Rodgers Makes Appearances on Squawk Box and Meet the Press
Fichtner and Heidkamp Present at Recovery and Reemployment Forum
Salzman Guest on Education Week Live Chat
The Distressed American Worker: New Work Trends Survey of U.S. Workers Finds Many Fear that the American Economy Faces Lasting Changes
Krepcio Testifies Regarding Green Jobs
Heldrich Center, PSEG Host State Leaders to Discuss Green Jobs, Economic Recovery, and Workforce Needs of Energy Employers
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  Project Spotlights
 
Rodgers appears on CNN and CNBC to comment on highest unemployment rate in 26 years

Heldrich Center Chief Economist William Rodgers III participated in Squawk Box's (of CNBC) monthly panel on labor on June 5, previewing and discussing the release of May's job report. The monthly unemployment statistics report a decline of 345,000 nonfarm payrolls, well below the Squawk Box panel's predictions which ranged from 500,000 to 525,000. The unemployment rate, however, soared to 9.4%, significantly higher than the panel's foretelling of 9.2%. These numbers translate to 14.5 million unemployed individuals.

The next day, Rodgers also appeared on CNN's Your Money to discuss the bittersweet findings of the previous day's unemployment report. Aside from pointing out the slow progress of the labor market, he also underlined some reasons why the unemployment rate is substantially higher among African-American and Hispanic workers. For more, please read the program's transcript.

Preview prior to release of monthly job report.

Commentary upon release of report.

Cleary Presents Findings on Nanotechnology Degrees and Their Uncertain Value in Current Labor Market

On April 26-28, Cleary presented a poster with key study findings during a workshop on nanotechnology education held at the University of Southern California.  The event was sponsored by the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at the University of California, Santa Barbara, which is funded through a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF).  On May 11, Cleary presented the poster at an NSF site visit at the Center for Nanotechnology and Society at Arizona State University.  Cleary also delivered an interactive presentation of the study findings at a session of the Nanotech 2009 conference in Houston, Texas, the largest nanotechnology event in the world.

The study, which identified over 50 formal degree programs with the term “nano” in the title, found that degree programs are, like the technology itself, in an emerging phase.  Programs are highly variable in terms of structure and content, and are not generally situated in areas of high nanotechnology research and patenting activity.  Rather, programs cluster in response to state and local policy initiatives.  Since other studies have revealed that employers prefer to hire nanotechnology workers who have earned degrees in traditional disciplines, the value of these new degrees in the current labor market is uncertain, though they may become more relevant as the field of nanotechnology matures.

Heldrich Center Presents on Green Jobs to the Council of Foundations and USDOL-ETA Regional Conference

On April 29, 2009 Jennifer Cleary and Allison Kopicki delivered a webinar on the role that foundations can play in supporting green jobs initiatives to members of the Council of Foundations. The presentation provided an overview of the factors driving green job growth, promising programs around the country, and specific areas where foundations can be helpful in complementing government and private efforts to move low-income workers into green work.

Jennifer Cleary presented the Heldrich Center’s research on green jobs on May 6, 2009 to over 600 workforce professionals at a plenary session of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL-ETA) Region 4 Re-Employment Summit in Dallas, Texas.  Cleary described how workforce organizations can build effective partnerships to track green jobs policy developments and to build employer-responsive green jobs training efforts that benefit One-Stop Career Center customers.

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© 2009 Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, All rights reserved.
John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development
Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
30 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901
Phone: (732) 932-4100
For information or comments contact hcwd@rci.rutgers.edu