LinkedIn: Green jobs account for one in three UK role postings, but skills shortages loom

LinkedIn’s new Global Green Skills Report, out today (13 June), shows how the green jobs market is growing so rapidly that programmes to upskill and reskill workers have not been able to keep track. As such, there is now more demand for than supply of skilled workers in many markets, including the UK.

On a global basis, the report reveals, green job postings were 15.2% higher year-on-year. This is despite a slight decrease in job postings overall.

The UK takes the crown for the highest proportion of all postings accounted for by green roles, at 33%.

LinkedIn counts green roles not only as those within low-carbon sectors such as electric vehicle manufacturing or renewable energy, but also in corporate sustainability roles. These include chief sustainability officer, sustainable procurement lead and climate action planner.

Three of the top-ten fastest-growing roles on LinkedIn between 2018 and 2022, the report reveals, were in the green economy. Sustainability analyst was the fastest-growing of the three, followed by sustainability specialist and manager.

While this boom in roles is welcome, there are concerns about whether the education system – or, indeed, employers – are preparing workers for the jobs of the future.

Globally, green job postings grew nearly twice as fast as the share of green talent between 2022 and 2023.

And firms are not, in the main, willing to hire workers and train them extensively on the job. LinkedIn data shows that typically, 81% of workers who transition into green jobs have at least some green skills or prior green experience.

This challenge is not specific to the UK, it is global. But LinkedIn’s report shows that it is particularly pronounced here; Just one in eight workers in the UK currently have green skills, compared to one in seven workers in France and one in six in Germany.

LinkedIn’s head of global public policy Sue Duke said: “It is not enough to simply create more green roles and wait for people to fill them. Without the right skills, these new jobs can be hard for people to break into.

“We need to make it as easy as possible for people to move into green jobs, and that will require combined action from policymakers, businesses and educational organisations. Targeted and tailored reskilling programmes and on-the-job training are critical to building a global workforce with the skills to tackle the climate threat.”

The UK has notably not produced a full new skills strategy since the last general election in 2023. It has a headline target of having two million people in green jobs by 2030 but has repeatedly been accused of failing to set out credible plans to achieve this, including by its own climate advisors.