The sustainability job sector and the demand for prospective employees with green skills is growing! In the UK, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) saw an above average 8.4% rise in full time green jobs.
But what are these jobs and how can you help meet this demand?
Exploring Green Jobs
In 2022, there were 589,600 people employed with a green job and this has since grown to 639,400 in 2023. The ONS defines a green job as “employment in an activity that contributes to protecting or restoring the environment, including those that mitigate or adapt to climate change.” These jobs are incredibly diverse and can range from the “protecting and restoring” end like conservation managers or field researchers to “those that mitigate or adapt to climate change” like sustainable policy advisors and CSR specialists. Some of the largest industries contributing to this growth are waste, low carbon transport, renewable energy, and environmental consultancy. It is no surprise that this rise goes hand-in-hand with a decrease in the fossil fuel sector. Where the green job sector saw a rise of 29% from 2015 to 2022, the fossil fuel industry saw a decrease of 28%.
This is representative of the UK’s transition to net zero which is a goal that is aimed to be met by 2050. In order to do this, the UK needs to start employing more people with green skills. UNICEF defines green skills as “the knowledge that we all need to develop and live in a sustainable society and environment.” This knowledge is just as diverse as the jobs themselves and can be anything from engineering new forms of hydrogen storage and carbon capture to having the leadership skills necessary for climate action planning to knowing how to conduct field species counts for biodiversity surveys. Lots of people are meeting this growth by transferring their skills to green skills or acquiring them.
Meeting the Demand for Green Jobs
The amount of green jobs being advertised is increasing as years go by. In 2024, 3.3% of jobs adverts in the UK were for green jobs. However, according to LinkedIn’s Global Green Skills Report 2023, the amount of green jobs being posted on the website is two times as many as the number of users with green skills. This means there’s a gap in the employers seeking sustainability-focused employees and the amount of people who are qualified to fulfill those roles. This has led to, what the World Economic Forum refers to as, the Reskilling Revolution. This is a transformation for those already in the workforce to gain green skills, but also presents an opportunity for environmental students entering the workforce to bring a new and sought-after set of skills to meet these job adverts.
This is particularly advantageous because these jobs also present long term career pathways that are relatively stable. As previously mentioned, the UK is still courageously working its way towards its 2050 net zero goal and needs employees to help it do so. This is not only seen in qualitative policy, but has been seen in the consistent growth of the sector over the last ten years.
