Time Magazine’s feature story this week is a sobering report on double digit unemployment. The magazine asks, frighteningly, if double-digit unemployment is here to stay. Economists had long since told us that when growth returned, jobs would return. But now, top labor analysts are wondering whether this truism still rings true. Has something fundamental changed (been destroyed) in our economy? What’s the solution? According to the Time reporter, it’s as “simple” as an employment-emergency bill, which will: guarantee jobless workers a basic set of rights for two...

Business Week ran a fascinating article a few weeks ago about how to find a job during America’s economic recovery. As I’ve long been harping on here at the JobMonkey, the earliest growth will be in one of four fields: health care, education, government employment, and green business. In fact, these four fields have been some of the most stable over the past 8 months of the recession, posting positive growth numbers over a number of months despite record-high layoffs in nearly every other field. Here are some of the highlights from BWeek’s article on landing one of these &#...

If you are interested in earning green by going green, there is good news for you, according to a recent USA TODAY article: Students can choose from a variety of new “green” degree programs. The growth of the green collar job sector has led a number of colleges and universities to incorporate sustainability into their course offerings. David Soto of The Princeton Review says student interest is driving colleges to create programs that offer training in sustainability. Two-thirds of students surveyed for the company’s recent “College Hopes and Worries” survey said ...

The Philadelphia Bulletin is reporting that five new green projects, expected to yield 155 Pennsylvania jobs, are kicking off thanks to funding from the Stimulus Bill.  Less than 200 jobs may seem like a drop in the bucket of the millions of people unemployed and underemployed. And it is. But the story in this niche newspaper more than likely represents initiatives being duplicated in cities and towns across America. Plus, as the article reports, the funding from the federal government is leveraging private spending — which ultimately will net a lot more job creation in the green fi...

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that the United States has reached its highest unemployment rate in 25 years: 8.1%. More than 4.4 million jobs have been lost since December 2007, including the 651,000 lay-offs in February. Even worse news, say some economists, is the fact that so many of these jobs are in the manufacturing industry — a sector that is likely going to have be permanently altered as a result of this recession. These jobs aren’t coming back anytime soon, if ever, say the experts. Which means that if you are dealing with a job loss in one of those sectors,...

According to Scotland’s The Herald newspaper, green jobs aren’t just on the rise in the U.S., but in the U.K. as well. The British company Centrica recently announced plans to create 1,500 new green jobs, from engineering positions to green collar assignments. Jobs will include energy efficiency advisers and wind farm installers. On Monday, I posted about four recession-proof careers and working for green industries definitely made the list. According to economic experts, as many as three to five million new green jobs will be created in the U.S. over the next decade. If you are in...

ABC News ran an interesting story late last week about a green retraining program for blue collar workers in California. The students were learning all about green fuel options in preparation for a possible career change. The spotlight on the growing green economy has grown a lot brighter since President Obama was sworn into office. His Stimulus Package includes investment in green jobs, as a future-thinking way to employ American workers. Having earned the Presidential stamp of approval, the future is looking pretty good for green industries. In fact, according to the ABC story, labor expe...

Last week, I talked with you about the emerging market of green sector employment. Well, ever since that post, I can’t seem to log into my email without a news story about the green industry arriving in my inbox. I wanted to share some of these recent articles with you, because no matter what kind of job you do, the greening of our economy is going to be a top priority (or at least it should be!). So while you’re working on resume writing and figuring out your next career move, take a few moments to ponder on how your skills can help contribute to the emergence of a greener econ...

You’ve heard of white collar jobs and blue collar jobs.  Now there is a third category: green collar jobs. This week, we’ll be taking an in-depth look at green collar jobs — what green collar means, how many green collar jobs are available, and what you need to know to land a green collar job. What does Green Collar mean? According to San Francisco State University’s Raquel Pinderhughes, green collar jobs are "blue collar jobs in green businesses."  This cross-over definition seems to be the most widely accepted. In a New York Times piece, for exa...

Did you know that you can search for jobs right on the JobMonkey site? It’s easy: Just go to the field you are interested in and scroll toward the bottom for the link to the job board. I’ll make it even easier for you every Wednesday, by bringing you three of the hottest jobs in JobMonkey’s very large pool of positions. Art Director for AOL Music This new music industry job is for a high-powered, experienced art director who can help the industry’s leading music site continue its success and branch out in new directions as well. The duties of the Art Director inclu...