As the United State transitions to a clean-energy future, the number of “green” jobs is on the rise. According to a 2023 report from LinkedIn, however, there’s a shortage of qualified people to fill these jobs, with only one in eight workers having the requisite skills.
Recognizing this gap, Goodwill Industries International announced in October of 2023 a new partnership aimed at assisting job seekers in obtaining employment in green industries. Founded more than a century ago, Goodwill uses the money from the sale of donated clothing and other products to provide career training and other employment services to job seekers. In 2022, the nonprofit connected approximately 129,000 people with jobs while providing career-related services to more than 2 million others.
Joining Goodwill in the new partnership is Accenture. A Dublin, Ireland-based IT and cloud consulting firm that also has expertise in renewable energy and sustainability, Accenture is a Fortune Global 500 company with clients in more than 120 nations.
With the support of Accenture, Goodwill has launched the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator. This workforce development program will provide training to 7,000 people for positions in solar, electrical vehicles, and other green industries. Accelerators will first launch in Atlanta, Detroit, Nashville, and Houston in 2024 before expanding to 20 cities nationwide by around 2030.
In a statement, Goodwill’s president and CEO, Steve Preston, said the accelerator will “open doors for people in an expanding industry.” Manish Sharma, the CEO of Accenture North America, added that the accelerator will benefit entire communities as well as workers and industry.
The launch of Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator comes a month after President Joe Biden announced the creation of the American Climate Corps. Like the Goodwill Clean Tech Accelerator, the American Climate Corps will provide skills training aimed at helping job seekers build promising careers in green industries. The initiative will focus specifically on young people and is eventually expected to mobilize 20,000 workers.