Skip to main content

Green Jobs Strategy

Green Jobs Strategy

The first iteration of the King County Green Jobs Strategy details the county's plans, tactics, resources, and performance measures to accomplish King County’s goals through 2023-2024. The Green Jobs Strategy will be assessed and revised along with the Strategic Climate Action Plan (SCAP) on a five-year timeline.

Green Jobs Strategy Timeline: Fall 2022 - Strategy drafting and community outreach, January 2023 - Strategy completed, 2023-2024 - Strategy implemented, 2025 - Strategy assessed and updated
Green Jobs Strategy report cover

The 2023-2024 strategy will lay a foundation for the strategy's mission to connect frontline communities to living wage opportunities to build a diverse and skilled workforce. The Green Jobs Strategy goals include:

  • Partner regionally to grow green jobs through climate initiatives. King County will integrate scalable high-road workforce development into clean energy deployment and County climate initiatives while collaborating with partners to invest in resource networks to increase green jobs regionally.
  • Facilitate a green jobs pipeline for frontline communities. King County will materially support organizations committed to building accessible on-ramps to living wage green careers within frontline communities and lead specialized promotion of green industry sectors catered to frontline communities.
  • Invest in local high-demand industry sectors. King County will focus County resources and partnerships on existing high-growth sectors based on a regional definition of green jobs centered on creating opportunities for frontline communities now and in the future.
  • Support greening the County workforce. King County will develop green career pathways across identified County departments while providing opportunities for the County workforce to obtain energy conservation credentials.

King County is locally defining green jobs based on the needs of our region. King County defines green jobs as living wage positions providing environmental benefits (such as clean energy deployment) in high-demand industry sectors of construction, manufacturing, transportation, and professional services.

The Green Jobs Executive Summary outlines the need for a Green Jobs Strategy, including the goals and critical priority actions for 2023-2024.

View the Executive Summary .

King County has developed a framework to measure progress on the ten outlined priority actions composing the Green Jobs Strategy. These clear and measurable goals with help keep King County accountable for making progress toward the purpose of the Green Jobs Strategy.

View the Performance Measure Logic Model .

The WIC integrated best practices research and interviews with workforce development providers to develop criteria for best practices for high-road workforce partnerships. These goals and actions support King County in building a network of local organizations to partner with in the future on high-road workforce development initiatives.

Download the WIC Tool .

The King County, Green Jobs team used quantitative and qualitative data and listening sessions with community members to help shape the development of the Green Jobs Strategy. Community engagement included conversations and presentations with members of frontline communities, workforce development organizations, local governments, county labor partners, community-based organizations, the academic and scientific community, schools and training providers, and local employers and businesses.

Review of community engagement methods and process .

In 2022 King County commissioned an analysis of high-demand sectors related to the Green Economy through 2031. This analysis shaped the critical sectors of focus for the Green Jobs Strategy: Construction, Transportation, Manufacturing, and Professional Services. Please read the King County Industry Sector Analysis report .

The Nextgen Climate Internship program operationalizes priorities outlined in the Sustainable and Resilient Frontline Communities section of the Strategic Climate Action Plan. Continuing and expanding the NextGen Climate Internship Program is a part of the 2023-2024 Green Jobs Strategy. Below is the 2022 NextGen Climate internship annual report .

NextGen Climate Internship Annual Report dashboard - click or tap to open pdf version
Click, tap or enter to open an Acrobat file
Choose email or mobile text updates

Contact

For more information, please get in touch with Michael Carter, Green Jobs Program Manager, at micarter@kingcounty.gov.

expand_less