Page 8 - Georgia Forestry - Issue 4 - Fall 2019

WORKFORCE
Finding the Next Generation
By Brady Hummel
Workforce sustainability a concern across the forestry industry
F orestry jobs are still in high demand, but there are concerns murmured by many in the industry about whether there will be enough young professionals interested in starting a career in forestry to meet that
demand in the coming decades.
According to the Georgia Forestry Commission’s 2017 Economic Benefits of
the Forest Industry in Georgia report,1 there were 53,933 total direct employees in the forestry industry in Georgia in 2017, with pulp and paper products, building, and forest management and logging accounting for two-thirds of the workforce. Total employment in the industry has consistently grown year- on-year since 2010, but roughly 21,000 jobs were lost between 2007 and 2010 asaresultoftheGreatRecession.2 Andwagesandsalarieshaveoutpaced
53,933
direct EMPLOYEES In FORESTRY INDUSTRY (2017)
Pulp and paper products: 19,252
Wooden furniture, cabinets, custom architecture and millwork, windows and doors: 11,242
Forest management and logging: 5,738 Lumber and wood preservation: 5,662
Containers, showcases, partitions and shelving: 4,471
Veneer, plywood, reconstituted and engineered wood: 4,131
Prefabricated wood buildings and manufactured housing: 2,138
Bioenergy: 894
Woodworking and paper industries machinery:405
6 | GEORGIA FORESTRY
STEPHEN B. MORTON