Area job-hunters of all ages have the benefit of more prospects, higher high-tech wages, plenty of green options and some hungry employers in certain occupations.
Denver is the seventh-best U.S. city for recent college graduates to start their careers, according to a survey of college-placement offices by job-search Web site CareerCast.com.
Denver and the other winning cities for first-time job-seekers have significant career opportunities and diversity, plus a well-developed social scene. No. 1 is New York City, followed by Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Denver, Seattle, Atlanta and San Diego.
For overseas jobs, American grads want to head to the United Kingdom, followed by China, United States, France, Australia, Japan, Germany, Hong Kong, Spain and Italy. International first-jobbers plan to go to the United Kingdom, then China, United States, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Australia, Germany and France.
*Surge in IT opportunities*
Colorado ranks third in the U.S. for its concentration of high-technology jobs. Colorado employers added IT jobs in 2007 for the first time since 2001. This is from Cyberstates 2009, a report by TechAmerica.
IT wages are near the top here, too. Average salaries for Colorado high-tech employees are 97 percent higher than the private sector, also according to
TechAmerica.
Denver ranks 27th among 100 urban technology centers, according to bizjournals.
com. Criteria for the ranking include educational attainment of the workforce, and concentrations of information technology businesses and jobs.
If clean and green is the career target, Colorado has a large and fast-growing role in America’s clean energy economy, according to The Pew Charitable Trusts (“www.pewtrusts.org/cleanenergyeconomy”:www.pewtrusts.org/cleanenergyeconomy).
Colorado had 17,008 jobs in the clean energy economy at 1,778 businesses in 2007, the trusts’ report said.
The state also has attracted more than $622 million in venture capital in the past three years — the fifth-largest amount in the nation. Colorado innovators filed 161 clean energy patents from 1999 to 2008.
About 75 percent of these funds have been invested in clean energy generation. Jobs in the state’s clean energy category grew 50 percent between 1998 and 2007. The energy efficiency sector grew 56 percent in the same time.
Colorado’s Greening Government goals also could bring greater efficiency gains, with goals for state offices to reduce energy consumption by 20 percent, paper use by 20 percent, water consumption by 10 percent and state vehicle petroleum use by 25 percent by 2012.
Green employers include Abound Solar in Loveland (clean energy), which designs and manufactures solar panels (formerly known as AVA Solar); and Fiberforge in Glenwood Springs (environmentally friendly production), which designs and produces advanced composite materials used in lightweight and energy-efficient vehicles formerly known as Hypercar).
Nearly 60 percent of the jobs are in conservation and pollution mitigation sectors; 15.5 percent in clean energy; 9 percent in energy efficiency; 8 percent in environmentally friendly production; 7.5 percent in training and support.
*Government-stimulating jobs*
ther metro Denver sectors showing hiring increases over 2008 continue to be education and health services, other services and government, according to Metro Denver Economic Development Corp.
About 30 percent of employers are having trouble finding qualified workers, particularly for jobs in nursing, engineering and other skilled trades, according to the worldwide Talent Shortage Survey by Manpower Inc. Among the most difficult positions to fill include teachers, nurses, engineers and information technology workers. Also in short supply are technicians, machine operators and other manual trades employees.
Teen job-seekers in Colorado are getting help competing for summer work with an estimated $12 million in stimulus-funded grants and programs offering youth job training and internships. Get details and jobs at area county agencies, which are directing the job assistance at teens from lower-income families, and with disabilities or other workforce challenges.
_Linda Gaber is a copywriter and coordinator of JobsWeekly with the Denver Newspaper Agency’s Design Department._